Jim Cramer says off-price retailer TJX is still a buy even after crushing the market over the past 12 months

TJX Companies (TJX) is a stock worth buying here, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.

After a prolonged period of high inflation and the upcoming resumption of student-loan payments, lower-end consumers are seeing their budgets squeezed — leading them to trade down to off-price retailers like TJX, which owns T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods.

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While this dynamic may also benefit rivals Ross Stores (ROST) and Burlington (BURL), Cramer said he believes TJX is the clear winner in the category.

"I think people should buy the stock," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." Cramer's Charitable Trust, the portfolio used by the CNBC Investing Club, has owned shares of TJX since August 2022.

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Over the past 12 months, the stock has climbed more than 40%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 over that stretch. TJX's market cap stands at around $100 billion. "It deserves to be higher," Cramer said.

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Cramer's comments Thursday came in response to JPMorgan research focused on consumer spending. In a note to clients, noted retail analyst Matt Boss said that macroeconomic headwinds are increasing compared with the pre-Covid pandemic economy in 2019.