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.”
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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.”
Jim Cramer Discussed 10 Stocks Leading the Dow Higher in 2025
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).
Jim Cramer Discussed 10 Stocks Leading the Dow Higher in 2025
10. The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 78
While The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) takes its place among the stocks that have performed well in the Dow, Cramer expressed confusion over its recent gains.
“Finally, a newbie added to the index, Sherwin-Williams, a little odd here, paint company. This one’s a tough, it’s tough. I don’t get it. It’s housing slowed, 7% mortgages. I’m honestly shocked the stock’s so high. Still, it’s not a tech stock, it’s not a Mag Seven, in fact, it’s a quintessential not tech stock. Maybe that’s why it’s there.”
Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) develops, manufactures, and sells paints, coatings, and related products to a wide range of customers, offering both branded and private-label products across various sectors, including architectural, industrial, automotive, and marine applications.
Parnassus Investments stated the following regarding The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) gained on optimism that lower interest rates would spur a resurgence in home renovations, leading to higher sales of its paint products. The company also hosted an investor day where it gave medium-term financial targets that were well received by investors.”
9. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 62
Cramer mentioned how well American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) is performing and that it takes 9th place among the stocks that have led the Dow this year.
“Finally, travel is the number one theme in this country. Hotels just won’t quit, this morning, Hilton announced a true blowout quarter. Expedia gave you a monster quarter this evening. It’s one after another after another. But the best one’s American Express, it’s the ninth-best performer of the year. Plus, it fits the bill for 2025 after a fabulous last quarter.”
American Express (NYSE:AXP) provides a variety of payment services, such as credit and charge cards, banking, expense management, travel services, merchant solutions, as well as fraud prevention, and customer loyalty programs. A few days ago, Cramer highlighted the investor sentiment around the stock as he said:
“I’ve seen this happen endlessly with American Express, AXP, too. It’ll creep up and the fact that the millennials and the gen-whatevers love it, and then it reports on a sleepy Friday, it always reports on Friday, and everyone runs from it like it’s got the bubonic plague. But two weeks later, American Express is up from where it was before the quarter and people have forgotten why they sold it.”
8. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 286
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) offers a diverse range of services such as e-commerce, advertising, and subscription offerings. Cramer commented on the company’s latest quarterly results and mentioned that the buying opportunity might come in a few weeks.
“Next up, Amazon. Now, they reported a really great number tonight with better than expected sales, up 10% year over year, monster 37 cent beat off a $1.49 basis. Top line beat was driven by the core e-commerce business with the company calling this past holiday season the most successful yet for Amazon. But all three of the company’s segments beat operating income expectations for the quarter.”
Cramer then explained that Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock dropped after hours due to AWS missing revenue expectations, which he commented was due to the company’s conservative guidance for the current quarter and a high capital expenditure forecast for the year, similar to Alphabet’s approach. He added:
“But we’ll caution that the first quarter forecast includes a big headwind for the adverse foreign exchange changes, which we don’t think should necessarily be held against Amazon. But let’s remember, I mean, even with tonight’s fairly meaningful pullback, the stock’s only giving up about three weeks of gains. We’ll be thinking about it as a buying opportunity in a few weeks. But I will tell you, like the other Mag Seven, it’s not where the action is.”
7. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 165
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a payment technology company that offers a variety of services including transaction processing, credit, debit, and prepaid card products, as well as solutions for cross-border payments, fraud mitigation, digital services, and payment integrations for e-commerce platforms. During the episode, Cramer discussed the company and said:
“Here’s one that drives me crazy though, Visa. This stock and its doppelganger MasterCard, run payment networks that take no risk and make billions. Everyone wants to buy now, pay later. That’s what they want, right? You want the buy now pay later outfits.
And look, Affirm is up a lot, not tonight, it is a great company, but a lot of people, I think the big institutions want the Colossus. They want the kings, the credit card companies that can do no wrong with no risk and that are, those are Visa and MasterCard.”
Over the last year, Visa (NYSE:V) stock has increased over 24%.
6. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88
Cramer called Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) the “inflation fighter” and highlighted its quality goods that cost less.
“Number six, Walmart. Okay, well this one isn’t hidden, all right. Everyone knows them as an inflation fighter, a company with cheap quality private label goods and a surprisingly great clothing department. My daughter outfits herself from Walmart and claims that you could see, buy plenty of stuff there similar to what they have on Madison Avenue.”
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is a widely recognized retail brand offering a broad selection of products, such as groceries, health items, electronics, apparel, and store-brand products. Cramer has been bullish on the company for a while now and he recently remarked:
“I even see this with Costco and Walmart, the two best retailers in America… Someone will always find fault with Walmart or say it’s run too much and they’ll sell it down. Week later, another analyst will remind us of the buying opportunity that it is and we’ll jump at the chance. They both hit all-time highs today.”
5. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68
Taking the fifth spot on the list of stocks that have led the Dow higher in 2025, Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was discussed during the episode and Cramer stated:
“Fifth is Amgen. And this, this one has so many blockbuster drugs. I think it’s absurd that the stock, once again sells for really 14 times earnings. The flagship drug is Repatha, which is the best medicine to lower cholesterol. They have studies showing that any amount of cholesterol is bad so the sales just keep going higher and higher. Why isn’t Amgen better known? I think it’s because people don’t know about its amazing anti-cancer franchise.
When the company brings its weight loss drug MariTide to market, I bet that people will finally sit up and take notice. In fact, many clued in people have already spotted it hence the recent gains. MariTide looks like it help[s] you lose weight as much as the majors. But unlike Ozempic or Mounjaro, it only requires once a month injection instead of once a week. Nobody wants more injections when they can have fewer.”
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) develops and delivers a variety of human therapeutics, including treatments for conditions such as psoriasis, arthritis, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.
4. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72
Cramer highlighted the hard times that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) fell upon under the previous administration but mentioned that it is seeing better days now.
“And fourth, another banker, the one I just mentioned as being great in M&A, also IPOs, it’s Goldman. Goldman is the Prometheus unbound. Under the previous president, Goldman’s most lucrative business, M&A, went fallow, tied to a rock with an eagle eating away a sliver at every day… Now the eagle here is Lina Khan, she was the former FTC Chair. Now though, traders are betting that mergers are back and Goldman will have a huge spike in business.”
Additionally, Cramer highlighted that fewer regulations under the Trump administration could lead to more IPOs, which would benefit Goldman (NYSE:GS). Despite this positive outlook, he noted that the stock is trading at a low 14 times earnings, considering the company is on the verge of its strongest performance in years. This led Cramer and his team to aggressively buy shares of the stock for the Charitable Trust.
“The fact is, it’s been ages since people thought of Goldman or JPMorgan as growth stocks. The Biden administration was not exactly a friend of the financial industry. For better or worse, they no longer have to worry incessantly about the SEC or the FTC or the Justice Department. Those days are now over, and you can see it from the strength in their stocks. That’s what’s propelling it.”
Goldman (NYSE:GS) is a financial institution known for its proficiency in investment banking, wealth management, and offering various other financial services.
3. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 56
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) offers a range of integrated services and solutions, including hybrid cloud and AI platforms, as well as server and storage solutions designed for hybrid cloud deployments. Discussing the company, Cramer said:
“Next, IBM. Alright, this one’s a bit of a shocker. Many missed it coming. What you had to be watching with the integration of Red Hat, a powerful enterprise software platform, bought a few years ago, the spinoff of their old IT infrastructure business as Kyndryl, and the conversion of a once big hardware company into one that gets more than 40% of its business from recurring software revenue, those moves have transformed IBM into a company with much more consistent earnings and Wall Street’s always willing to pay up for consistency. Most investors had left this one for dead. It didn’t die.”
2. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 105
As one of the list of stocks that have led the Dow higher in 2025, Cramer noted that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) took second place and said:
“Now, second. Second, there’s JPMorgan. JPMorgan stock is way too cheap, people, at 14 times earnings. This is the premier bank of our time, for heaven’s sake. JPMorgan has been, it’s got the biggest M&A… and IPO businesses. It’s got lending, it does everything. When you put it all together, it does very, very well in a slow-rate-cut environment.
Exactly what we have now. I think JPMorgan could trade up to more than 20 times earnings. Now, of course, there are other banks that have single big practices. Goldman has the biggest M&A, stay with me on that. But when you put them all together, it’s JPMorgan and to get that for 14 times earnings makes no sense in the world to me.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is a worldwide financial services firm providing a variety of offerings, including deposit services, loans, investment banking, and wealth management.
1. 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.
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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
