In this piece, we will look at the stocks Jim Cramer discussed during the DeepSeek AI selloff.

In the episode of CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on the day of the DeepSeek stock market selloff, Jim Cramer mentioned the risks that utility companies had talked to him about when it came to investing in power generation. Energy stocks were among the hardest hit during the selloff due to earlier investor optimism about the high power demand from AI. Cramer shared  “Well look .  . .a bunch of utilities behind the scenes have been telling me, we would like to spend. But what happens if something comes out Carl, that doesn’t burn as hot. Then they would have spent a fortune and they don’t want to go rate payer versus data center. They didn’t want to make that trade-off. And today I think that the AIPs of the world, the American Electric Powers, they may actually catch a nice bid.”

One concern that co-host David Faber raised during the program was DeepSeek having access to large amounts of data, including the entire Gmail account used to sign up for the service. In response, Cramer shared that he had been trying to cancel his service during the break. “But they have everything,” he added. He mentioned the amount of time that he’d spent on TikTok and DeepSeek and wondered if he would be able to remove his DeepSeek account if he said “that I love Mao? Would that help me? I think Mao was a great man and should’ve gotten the Nobel Peace Prize. What would help me at this point? That Tiananmen Square was a great celebration? What do I do? Tell me what to do?”

The primary reason stocks shed billions of dollars on Monday was that investors wondered if companies would have to spend billions of dollars to set up AI platforms. However, Cramer argued that the argument that some firms might see an ROI improvement from lower costs was very important. He listed the beneficiaries of AI and stated “We have so many beneficiaries, now we have a healthcare rotation going on, we have the beneficiaries that have really been hamstrung. We have the notion like the Justice Department said under the previous President, there’s been too much concentration.”

Commenting on the environment as the market fell Cramer shared “Look I do think it’s a moment, Carl, where all of us were talking, like it was when we first discovered ChatGPT, and we were playing Haiku.” Yet, he remained skeptical about the accuracy of the data surrounding DeepSeek and R-1. According to Cramer “The difference here I think is that, if we really think that they are playing by American rules and they’re telling us everything, then maybe that’s why we keep seeing such a great number, a growth number from the Chinese economy.”

On whether the American GPU restrictions against China had failed after DeepSeek, Cramer maintained that “the point of the ban was military.” He also believes that President Trump might ban DeepSeek and added “Why can’t we just shut it down?” Returning to DeepSeek accessing huge amount of data, Cramer said “I’ve been really upset about this. I was playing on it all weekend. And I didn’t realize they were playing me. I mean it is on your PC. They’re like, what are they burrowing through it right now? Are they gonna get like personal things that I’ve said to my wife? Which would be devastating. I mean in a positive way.”

Finally, in his last morning remarks, Cramer shared that he thought that the selloff could have been much worse. According to him:

“Yes, I have to tell you that I thought these things, when I first saw this [NVDA share price graph] I’m not saying that I was in a panic but I said look, this could be, a lot of people are going to say this is the end of Mag 7. And of NASDAQ. But people are discerning winners and losers. We have to hear from Jensen, we haven’t yet, Jensen Huang. But frankly, I thought it would be worse.”

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 January 27th.

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12. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 33

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) is an American pharmacy retailer whose shares remained lackluster throughout 2024. Last year, the stock dropped by 63% as the firm’s revenue dropped due to slower consumer spending and difficulties with reimbursements. The struggles have injected hope of a business sale into the stock price, which has driven the shares by 18.6% year-to-date. However, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s shares dropped on Tuesday amidst worries that a private equity buyout might be difficult. Cramer’s remarks for the firm also covered its sale:

“Oh you know I think there are some good things happening there.

“No, I’ve been saying Wentworth is a guy who’s gonna get us out of this. I’m not in, I’m not in it. Tim Wentworth is a genius. We’ve seen him pull rabbits out of hats before.”

11. Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 36

Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) is an alcoholic beverage company known primarily for its beer products such as Corona Extra. Like other alcohol stocks, the firm struggled in 2024 as high inflation led to lower consumer spending. However, in his previous shows, Cramer has stressed that he believes that the dropping beer sales are part of a broader consumer shift, particularly among younger users. He added that Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)’s management disagrees with him and that he has faith in CEO Bill Newlands. Here are his latest remarks for the firm:

“Oh my god, oh my god, Constellation Brands is up. It must be, is it a solar eclipse?

“[On a recent insider buy] Will Giles, the guy who came in from Elliot Partners. And that was good, but I just want to note, that periodically you get something which says in the event of nuclear war by Constellation, so I’m going to have to check things out.”