We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Hints at a Bigger Agenda Behind Tariffs and Breaks Down These 7 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses.
In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer suggested the recent tariffs might not simply be about economic leverage. He hinted at a deeper agenda within parts of the administration that goes beyond trade policy:
“There’s plenty of sense that something’s going to happen that’s going to take this away. In fact, just because of what we saw the other day with it going to 10 percent, I don’t see that at all. I think these are very different kinds of tariffs. I mean, this is a tariff where I think there’s some people with the administration who actually ultimately have a goal of regime change.“
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Discussing the likelihood of a negotiated settlement between Washington and Beijing, Cramer expressed deep skepticism that China would retreat under pressure. Instead, he described a Chinese leadership that had long prepared for confrontation:
“When do the Chinese back down? Right now they’re not, but I don’t know. I think the Chinese have been ready for this since first Trump. I think that they are ready for tariffs. I think they’re going to build coalitions worldwide. I do not think they’re paper tigers. I think that they’re a strong country and they’re ready. They’re ready for the fight. And I’m afraid that we have many divisions that were behind enemy lines before this war started, including Apple.”
Our Methodology
To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on April 11th.
For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
Once again, Cramer expressed deep concern over Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), calling attention to the company’s vulnerability in China. He framed Apple not only as a target of tariffs but as collateral damage in a broader geopolitical battle between the U.S. and China. He repeatedly questioned why American companies like Apple were being punished while foreign competitors like Huawei and Samsung stood to benefit. Here are his remarks:
“And I think that one of the things that’s happening is that people are just saying, look, it’s too crazy. I mean, Apple was up. Now, I could argue that Apple shouldn’t have ever been up, but Apple’s come down. There’s a sense that, like, OK, this thing may be for real. And if it’s real, then how can you own Apple? Why not go buy Samsung?
[on 18% of Apple’s sales coming from China] That’s existential for Tim (Cook). […] Well, they can’t move to India faster.
[On speaking with people from Trump’s administration] When I speak with them, I’m viewed as being a, someone who is a lapdog to Apple. And I resent that. I think that Apple’s one of the greatest companies. […]
Is Apple not the greatest? One of the four-five greatest companies in the world. So why are they being punished? What did they do wrong?”
Overall, AAPL ranks 5th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AAPL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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