We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Discussed These 10 NASDAQ 100 Stocks Recently. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) stands against other NASDAQ 100 stocks that Jim Cramer discussed recently.
Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, recently shared his perspective on the stock market, especially reflecting on the events of 2024. He emphasized that years like 2024 don’t come around often, where everything feels so clear and the winners are so apparent. According to Cramer, if investors tried to get too creative or overcomplicate their strategies, they likely missed out on the obvious winners.
“If you tried to get creative, you tried to get clever, you missed out on some truly idiot-proof winners. The losers on the other hand, well, they were not as easy to spot because in many cases they were the market’s former winners, even if they long ago lost their way.”
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As part of his annual analysis on Mad Money, Cramer examined the top and bottom performers of the Nasdaq 100 in 2024, offering insights into what worked and what didn’t. He reviewed how, in many instances, investors tend to become frustrated with stocks that are overhyped, knowing deep down that eventually, something better will come along. He likened these overly loved stocks to a “mouse trap,” where the price could only go down from such lofty heights, warning that many investors would regret not jumping off the metaphorical spaceship before the crash.
Cramer shared his thoughts on the five best performers in the NASDAQ 100 for 2024, calling it a “real good collection of winners” and expressing a genuine fondness for these stocks. He also noted that, while the Nasdaq 100 losers may have appeared to have suffered dramatic declines, the reality was more nuanced.
“The Nasdaq 100 losers, though they aren’t so horrible as the declines would make you think, but they got clobbered because they were emblematic of golden calves, worshipped for a long time before being revealed as not so special after all.”
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 January 2. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the third quarter, 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 technician soldering components for a semiconductor board.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68
Including Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in the worst performers’ list, Cramer discussed:
“Let’s start with something critical: Intel and its financial situation. Intel is a national treasure people, it can’t be allowed to fail. Too dire a possibility? I don’t think so. Its balance sheet is a mess, its product line isn’t good enough, I don’t know if it can deliver on many of its promises to [the] government. Sure, nice guy messianic former CEO Pat Gelsinger is gone but so what? Intel needs a plan in 30 days, so the stock will keep coming down even after last year’s staggering 60% decline. Intel’s too big to be bought, too indebted to be finessed… The risk is existential.”
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) designs and manufactures computing products, including processors, memory, and AI solutions, serving sectors like cloud services, OEMs, and digital transformation with hardware and software platforms. For many years, the company was the world’s largest chipmaker. However, recent challenges have made it increasingly difficult for the company to maintain its leading position.
The company has been grappling with its shrinking market share in semiconductors, particularly as disruptive companies like Nvidia and AMD have made significant strides. According to a Wall Street Journal article, Intel’s competitive position has become increasingly precarious, with AMD in particular gaining traction in the crucial data center market.
Despite these challenges, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has continued to innovate in certain areas. In a prior earnings call, former CEO Gelsinger referred to the Lunar Lake processors for laptops as a financial failure. However, Intel’s fortunes shifted with the release of the Intel Arc B580. Recently, the co-CEO, Michelle Johnston Holtshaus, reassured the public of the company’s commitment to the discrete graphics market, emphasizing that it would continue to make investments in this area, as she explained during her presentation at CES 2025.
Overall, INTC ranks 2nd on our list of NASDAQ 100 stocks that Jim Cramer discussed recently. While we acknowledge the potential of INTC 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 INTC 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 is originally published at Insider Monkey.
