Jim Cramer: Apple Is Now Also a Health Care Play

Health care plays get premium multiples and have non-cyclical annuity streams.
By Jim Cramer ,

NEW YORK (Real Money) -- Yes, I was surprised. No, I didn't know Tim Cook would call in. Yes, I thought Tim-in-California, Tim was just another fabulous caller -- which he turned out to be.

When you have television success later in life, like me, it kind of emboldens you a bit. You know you had another career. You know you are at a point in your life where you can ask people what's on your mind and handle a smack down if you get it. You've been mortified aplenty.

So, I figured once I knew it was him that I'd just say it: say how great he is and risk people saying I am idolatrous, say how I think the watch is going to save lives, and then ask him all the questions you always wanted to, including, "What it is like to follow in the footsteps of Steve Jobs?"

But by this time you have either seen the interview or are saying, "Tell me something I don't know," which is the way of daily journalism.

So, here is what I didn't know. ResearchKit, Apple's new open-source software system designed to aid medical researchers, had its first major success this week when an astounding 11,000 people used it to sign up for a Stanford University study on cardiovascular disease -- a level of recruitment that Cook said would have normally taken 50 medical centers a year to achieve. Now it's clear: ResearchKit is the game changer that takes the watch out of the fashion category, out of the timepiece category, and into the mandatory category.

Remember why doctors focus on cardiology so much. Fatalities can be prevented if there is enough time and information. This watch is going to give you the time and the doctor the information. That's just what is going to happen.

True, I like Apple (AAPL) - Get Report for the iPhone. I like Apple for Apple Pay and the ability to roll over retailers, something that Cook said could happen, although I better include Apple Pay right away at Bar San Miguel.

But after last night, I realize that Apple is a health care play in tech's clothing. Health care plays get premium multiples and have non-cyclical annuity streams.

Now Apple has one, too.

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Editor's Note: This article was originally published at 6:30 a.m. EST on Real Money on March 13.

At the time of publication, Jim Cramer's charitable trust Action Alerts PLUS was long AAPL.

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