On Monday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, provided his analysis of the day’s market activity, highlighting that stocks had rebounded due to growing investor optimism that a clearer global trade outlook could be emerging.
“Declaring victory while you’re still playing is a dangerous game unless you’re President Trump. Today felt a lot like a declared victory…. The victory I’m talking about is a nonstop commitment by companies to building things here, things that otherwise wouldn’t be built here. You gotta admit that it’s pretty amazing.”
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Cramer also observed a shift in how companies now approach doing business in the U.S. He noted that companies now have a clear set of expectations to meet if they want access to American markets. As he put it, “They just gotta play ball with Trump and with our country,” following years of enjoying an unbalanced advantage.
According to Cramer, the stock market has always had a keen understanding of President Donald Trump since it recognized his determination to revive American manufacturing via tariffs, making it one of his main focuses.
“And now that we’re getting these announcements, he’s suddenly willing to be more targeted with his tariffs, declaring victory.”
In trying to understand why the shift is happening now, Cramer noted two main reasons. First, the April 2nd tariff deadline is fast approaching, which has spurred foreign companies to line up one by one to demonstrate their desire to maintain access to U.S. markets. Cramer noted that the companies know that to keep those doors open, they will need to be willing to make concessions. He then added:
“Second, Trump’s been listening. Now he’s seen executive after executive from American companies and he’s asked them what he can do to help their businesses do better. He doesn’t want to harm U.S. companies that hire here and expand here. He does want to harm those that don’t.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 8 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on March 24. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the fourth quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
8 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar
8. KB Home (NYSE:KBH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 32
Cramer commented on KB Home (NYSE:KBH) during the episode and said:
“I know that Mark Carney, new Canadian prime minister… he’s got a snap election coming up, isn’t going to play ball with an election coming up. No. Therefore, lumber’s in play. And I think the rally in the home builders has some danger to it, especially after KB Home reported just so-so number tonight. I think the reciprocity, I didn’t, I’ve not heard a lot of reciprocity between the United States and Canada. They’re very unhappy [with] that 51st State rhetoric. I can’t blame them.”
KB Home (NYSE:KBH) is a homebuilder that constructs and sells various types of homes, in addition to providing financial services including insurance, title services, and mortgage banking.
7. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 223
Discussing business executives’ meetings with President Trump, Cramer mentioned NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and stated:
“I’m told the behind-the-scenes meetings with the president are convivial and substantive. Executives who I thought would be lambasted for asking for special treatment are instead finding a president who’s complimentary and constructive and wants them to do well, which they say, which they all say is to a person, is a better deal than they got from the previous president. For example, NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang had some very good things to say about his meeting with Trump. They didn’t make this stuff up.”
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) is known for its innovations in graphics, computing, and networking technologies, particularly its graphics processing units and the CUDA software platform. On Friday, Cramer discussed the company as he said:
“[Dan Ives on Wedbush warning about something have to change, Jonas cutting PT to $410 from $430 and saying it’s a top pick because firm is transitioning to AI and robotics] Well, you know what’s a highly diversified play on AI and robotics? It’s the unfathomably bad acting golden negative bear cross, NVIDIA. . . So I mean if you want AI, I’ll give you NVIDIA. You want self-drive, I’ll give you NVIDIA. And I’ll tell you, do want some NVIDIA? I’ll give you NVIDIA. That stock can’t even seem to hold 117…
You can’t build these centers. And you can’t do AI, without NVIDIA. And I think that Jensen Huang, if you actually parsed his words, you would have realized the demand is just ridiculous. He claims that they can make so many more than they could, the yield in the first quarter wasn’t that good. I think the numbers are going to inflect. I think the gross margin’s going to go from 71 to 75%, but right now the stock is gripped with all the negativity that’s captured the stock market.”
6. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96
Cramer commented on Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) during the episode and said:
“They destroyed our industry, foreign companies did that ages ago and if you want to sell… to Walmart or Costco, maybe you have to pay the piper too and if he’s lucky, Trump will get China to build here in return for well nothing because they know that he has a vicious temper if you don’t play ball and it isn’t worth fight the guy.”
Costco (NASDAQ:COST) operates a membership-driven warehouse model, offering a variety of branded and private-label products in bulk at reduced prices, targeting customers looking for savings on larger purchases.
Aoris Investment Management stated the following regarding Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Firstly, I think we exercised good valuation discipline in our sales of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) and Cintas. The share prices of these two companies had increased by more than 60% and 40% respectively in the year prior to our sale. It can be difficult as investors to remain objective and not ‘fall in love’ with an investment when it is performing well. A higher share price doesn’t make a business more valuable!
We sold both Costco and Cintas simply for reasons of valuation. These are exceptional businesses that we’d love to own again if valuation permits. Their sales allowed us to recycle portfolio capital into more attractively valued businesses.”
5. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 116
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was discussed during the episode of Mad Money as Cramer remarked:
“They destroyed our industry, foreign companies did that ages ago and if you want to sell… to Walmart or Costco, maybe you have to pay the piper too and if he’s lucky, Trump will get China to build here in return for well nothing because they know that he has a vicious temper if you don’t play ball and it isn’t worth fight the guy.”
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is a retail corporation that provides a broad selection of products, including groceries, health items, electronics, clothing, and private-label goods. On March 14, Cramer said:
“I actually don’t like Walmart here. I think that the stock has moved up too much and we want to wait. And then if, and I’ll tell you the truth, maybe in the low $80s, no, maybe even the high $70s because right now retail’s a very hard thing to do. And the only retailer that I’m saying to buy right now is TJX. I like Costco, but TJX is much better than Walmart. Much better. I want you to sell the Walmart and buy TJX.”
4. Hyundai Motor Company (OTC:HYMTF)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: N/A
Cramer made note of Hyundai Motor Company’s (OTC:HYMTF) recent investment announcement in the U.S. and said:
“Now Hyundai Motor Group has announced a $20 billion investment commitment, including a $5.8 billion steel mill in Louisiana… I expect all Korean and Japanese car companies to commit like Hyundai if they want to avoid the worst of the tariffs. They’d be foolish not to. I don’t think the Germans would be any different. They’re built in Mexico endlessly. Now they have to build here or they’ll likely won’t have access to our markets.”
Hyundai Motor Company manufactures and sells a variety of vehicles, including cars, eco-friendly models, SUVs, MPVs, and commercial vehicles, while also offering financing services, engineering, logistics, and other activities, including operating a football club.
For 2025, Hyundai Motor Company is targeting consolidated revenue growth of 3% to 4% and an operating profit margin of 7% to 8%. The company expects to sell over 4.17 million vehicles during the year. Hyundai plans to invest a total of KRW 16.9 trillion (KRW 1 = US$0.00068), which includes KRW 8.6 trillion for capital expenditures, KRW 6.7 trillion for research and development, and KRW 1.6 trillion in strategic investments.
3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 186
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was mentioned by Cramer during the episode as he noted:
“In March, Taiwan Semi committed to an additional $100 billion on top of [its] previous pledge of $65 billion to build highly advanced semiconductor fabs here, not in Taiwan.”
Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) is a well-known company in the semiconductor sector, involved in the production, packaging, testing, and sale of integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices. Appearing on Squawk on the Street last week, Cramer said:
“I don’t know if we have a seven second clip of what Jensen’s saying about the President in his meetings, and how he’s actually going to bring some manufacturing here. He doesn’t really manufacture anything but he’ll use Taiwan Semi.”
2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
Cramer discussed Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) recent $500 billion investment commitment and the company’s position in light of the tariffs.
“In February, Apple committed to $500 billion in projects over the next four years, aiming to create 20,000 jobs… If companies like Apple commit here, then why wouldn’t Trump favor those companies and help them? Why should he insist that Apple pay a high tariff for the parts of phones or phones that you bring in after committing such a huge amount of money here to our country?”
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) designs and sells a variety of consumer electronics, including smartphones, computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories, alongside its suite of services. Additionally, the company offers subscription-based services like Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade, while also overseeing platforms such as the App Store and Apple Pay.
1. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 105
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) was mentioned during the episode, and here’s what Cramer had to say:
“January, Stargate joint venture, Oracle, Japanese company SoftBank, MGX from the UAE, and OpenAI committed to $500 billion data center build-out here. I know some of that’s already in the works.”
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is a tech company that provides a diverse range of IT services and solutions tailored to meet the needs of businesses. Parnassus Investments stated the following regarding the company in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) stock posted its best annual performance since 1999 as the software giant gained market share in cloud-based training of generative AI models. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is helping to reaccelerate growth as the company continues to execute well in capturing new deals.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) 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 ORCL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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