We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Discussed 10 Stocks Leading the Dow Higher in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses that are leading the Dow higher in 2025.
On Thursday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, drew attention to ten stocks that have been driving the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2025. He described some of these stocks as “quiet winners,” noting that many of them, particularly those outside the tech sector, are often overlooked by Wall Street despite their strong contributions to the market’s progress.
“I gotta tell you, we got some real strange leadership this year. When you look at the quiet winners of 2025, the ones that don’t belong to the Magnificent Seven, the ones that are unsung, even as they got us where we are so far this year, it’s a real low-key hodgepodge.” He elaborated on this, emphasizing that the stocks leading the charge in 2025 form an eclectic mix that may seem unconventional. Some of these companies were prominent in the past but have been largely forgotten, while others are relatively invisible, making steady gains that often go unnoticed.
According to Cramer, these stocks represent a sharp contrast to the giant, high-profile names that dominate everyday conversations about the market. He remarked that on a day when the Dow dropped by 126 points, the S&P rose by 0.36%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.51%, it was worth taking a closer look at the stocks driving the Dow higher, as this index is composed of some of the most established companies that, despite their storied histories, do not typically get the media attention they deserve. Cramer concluded by stating that the performance of these quieter, non-tech stocks so far this year has been significant.
“Bottom line: So far this year, we’ve had many very big winners outside of tech, and I bet most of them can keep quietly working their way higher.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 10 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money on February 6. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the third quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s 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).
A specialized industrial laboratory, filled with high-tech machinery for producing abrasives.
3M Company (NYSE:MMM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 82
Cramer noted that 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) saw its fair share of trouble with lawsuits till its new CEO took the helm.
“Well, let’s start with the year’s biggest winner so far, 3M. This one’s [a] fabulous conglomerate, used to have new products that… created entire markets out of nothing… but then 3M got caught up in forever chemical lawsuits that wouldn’t go away. I was appalled, by the way, at the disclosure of these because they were buried in footnotes when a former CEO retired. Then the new CEO, Mike Roman came in.”
Cramer commented that Roman inherited significant legal challenges but successfully settled the major lawsuits, reducing risk for the company. He highlighted that in 2022, Roman spun off 3M’s healthcare division into a new company, Solventum. While Cramer agreed that the move helped remove existential risk, he wished that it had not been spun off, believing the healthcare division was a valuable part of 3M’s (NYSE:MMM) portfolio. Despite this, he acknowledged Roman’s role in stabilizing the company.
“Now, in May of ‘24, Bill Brown, former CEO of L3Harris, took over 3M. This guy’s known as an incredibly tough hombre, a guy who’s in a hurry to get things done. I think that the old 3M, one that my father once worked for, is back. I await the innovations that will remind me of the halcyon days when this company used to be known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. In the meantime, Wall Street’s getting reacquainted with 3M and the market increasingly likes what it sees. I know, I gotta tell you, I think it’s terrific.”
3M (NYSE:MMM) offers a wide range of technological products in sectors such as safety, industrial, transportation, electronics, and consumer goods, including abrasives, safety gear, automotive solutions, and household items.
Overall, MMM ranks 1st on the list of stocks that Jim Cramer discusses that are leading the Dow higher in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of MMM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MMM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.