Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, recently discussed the rise of Bitcoin and expressed his admiration for the digital currency’s growth. However, he was careful to emphasize that Bitcoin should not replace traditional investments, particularly stocks, but rather should complement them in a diversified portfolio.

“I want to discuss Bitcoin, really I do, not to the detriment of stocks but in addition to stocks. I come to praise Bitcoin, not bury it.”

Cramer recalled the moment when President-elect Donald Trump began giving importance to cryptocurrency during his administration. On July 27, Trump declared that the U.S. government would fully embrace Bitcoin if he won the election. At the time, Bitcoin was valued just under $70,000. Cramer also noted Trump’s promise to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve and make America the global leader in cryptocurrency.

Cramer highlighted Trump’s statement, “If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted, and made in the USA.” Regardless of whether one agrees with the policy, Cramer remarked, Trump’s words were a clear signal of how beneficial the growing popularity of cryptocurrency could be for its owners.

READ ALSO Jim Cramer’s Lightning Rounds: 12 Stocks Under the Spotlight and Jim Cramer’s Game Plan This Week: 10 Stocks to Watch

Cramer then shared insights from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who suggested that many investors see Bitcoin as a store of value, similar to gold. He went on to say:

“I’ve always endorsed keeping up to 10% of your portfolio in gold as a kind of insurance against the world’s lunacy. But for years now, I’ve also been saying Bitcoin’s a fine alternative to gold for that 10% position. Why not? I think the federal budget deficit is at impossible levels. I don’t want to be wedded to a currency backed by the full faith and credit of a country that owes $36 trillion.”

Cramer also acknowledged that some people might have gone all-in on Bitcoin and praised their decision. However, he recommended balancing Bitcoin investments with stocks. For instance, if Trump were to make a move to encourage buying Tesla, Cramer commented, having both stocks and crypto would give investors an edge.

“While we could become the bitcoin network, especially since President-elect Trump christened us as the bitcoin nation, I actually think there’s more to investing than just owning cryptocurrencies… Bitcoin’s part of the most obviously diversified portfolio in recent history. Buying and holding stocks can be just as lucrative as buying Bitcoin six days after Biden dropped out of the race. Or maybe, just maybe, it can make you even more money.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 29 stocks that Cramer was bullish on during episodes of Mad Money aired over the last 2 weeks. We narrowed the list to 10 stocks that were most favored by analysts. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their average analyst price target upside as of December 9. The average price target upside was calculated while the market was open. We also mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q3 database of 900 hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

10 Best Jim Cramer Stocks to Buy According to Analysts

10. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OLLI)

Average Price Target Upside: 7.70%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 32

Commenting on Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OLLI), Cramer remarked:

“Now, earlier this week, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet caught a rare downgrade. It’s this purveyor of closeout merchandise [that] has been an outstanding performer for many years.  It’s a highly promotional moment for retail. This kind of off-price chain tends to be a big winner. Ollie’s gets tractor trailer, if your tractor trailer’s full of unsold premium price merchandise, and they get it for next to nothing, and then they sell the stuff to you at bargain basement prices. I don’t want to get off this horse.”

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (NASDAQ:OLLI) is a retailer offering a variety of brand-name products.  On December 10, it released its financial results for the third quarter. Net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 rose by 7.8%, reaching $517.4 million, compared to $480.1 million in the same period of fiscal 2023. This increase in net sales was driven by the expansion of new store locations. Gross margin improved by 100 basis points, rising to 41.4% in the third quarter of fiscal 2024, up from 40.4% in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

This gain in gross margin was mainly attributed to more favorable supply chain costs. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (NASDAQ:OLLI) has also acquired seventeen store locations through the Big Lots bankruptcy proceedings. Of these, fifteen locations were acquired during the third quarter of fiscal 2024, with two additional locations acquired after the quarter ended. Furthermore, on December 6, the company was the winning bidder in a bankruptcy sale to secure leases for seven more former Big Lots stores.

9. EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM)

Average Price Target Upside: 7.73%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 39

Cramer recently highlighted how EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) stock is gaining as part of “the return of the enterprise software primacy over hardware”.

“Next is EPAM Systems, which is an enterprise software company for platform engineering development. Now the stock’s come roaring back leading, it is part of the return of the enterprise software primacy over hardware. EPAM’s strength is a green light to buy Salesforce and ServiceNow, the two biggest enterprise software plays that I like.”

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) provides digital platform engineering, software development, infrastructure management, consulting, design solutions, and expertise in emerging technologies like AI, robotics, and virtual reality. On December 6, Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider raised the rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral and upped the price target to $295 from $275.

Schneider noted that the demand environment for IT Services is steadily improving as we approach 2025, and the firm has become more optimistic about the sector. The firm believes that challenges in key industries, such as Financials, are easing, and anticipates that discretionary demand will increase throughout 2025, driven by a more favorable regulatory and interest rate environment, as well as the release of pent-up demand.

EPAM Systems’ (NYSE:EPAM) full-year outlook reflects the impact of recent acquisitions, including NEORIS. The company now projects revenue between $4.685 billion and $4.695 billion, indicating flat year-over-year growth at the midpoint. This includes an inorganic revenue contribution of 2.4%, with 1.2% coming from NEORIS.

On an organic constant currency basis, excluding the exit from Russia, revenues are expected to decline by 2.3% at the midpoint. The company forecasts non-GAAP income from operations to be between 16.0% and 16.5% of revenue and expects non-GAAP diluted EPS to range from $10.73 to $10.81.