In this piece, we will look at the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed.
In a fresh appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer started out by commenting on European stock markets. At the start of the day, markets were doing well and European stocks had actually outpaced American stocks in year-to-date performance. Cramer was surprised by their performance because he was “getting a lot of reports about how people are more negative about Europe than ever.” In fact he quoted the manager of one of the largest asset management firms in the world informing him about the “unmitigated negativity” surrounding European stocks.
Cramer reiterated his favored investing approach and reminded users about the need to look deeper than simply analyzing broader market performance. He shared that the strong European performance might “be short lived, because I’m trying to find companies that are doing really well in Europe. And I can’t really find them.” On the flip side, Cramer was able to find many companies “that are doing well in the United States.”
Naturally, when discussing top-performing US stocks, one firm that’s unavoidable is Wall Street’s favorite AI GPU stock whose GPUs are powering up all AI models. The stock had opened lower during the day, and Cramer pinned its performance on “negative things over at Korea!” These ‘things’ concerned the earnings report of Korean memory manufacturer SK Hynix, whose report had created doubts in investors’ minds about the demand for AI GPUs.
His latest stock market comments aren’t the only ones this year. In an earlier show, Cramer remarked on the breadth of market performance as opposed to the rise of just one or two indexes. He had outlined that despite the breadth that markets were experiencing, “the S&P oscillator I follow, [inaudible] is slightly overbought, there’s a lot more room.” Cramer added that even though technology stocks continued to impress, “there’s a considerable part of the market that has done nothing. Nothing for years. And that’s coming on.” He didn’t hold back about small-cap stocks either. The CNBC host believes “That stuff doesn’t work. People always try to chin that up. And then somebody sells a big small cap derivative.”
Another hot topic in the media, particularly after President Trump’s inauguration, has been the role that the ultra-wealthy might play in the US government. Cramer outlined previously that electric vehicle and aerospace billionaire Elon Musk has had a large role to play here. He shared that if you go back over the councils that were disbanded post-Charlottesville, what you would see are a lot of traditional industrialists and drug companies.” Cramer added that these individuals represented traditional wealth in America and they “were the people that were not drawn to, by Elon Musk. Elon Musk has changed the equation.”
This time around, he remarked on the feud between Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman over President Trump’s $500 billion Stargate AI project. “I mean, you gotta talk about, oligarchs are mad at each other,” Cramer said. The fights make him want to “do [a] oligarch mad at each other segment.”
Cramer also shared what he believes might be the motivating factors behind President Trump’s intent to place tariffs on America’s trading partners. According to him:
“Look I do think that when we hear Trump talk about it he’s really just saying, listen we got a big trade deficit with you and we gotta put a tariff on unless you buy our stuff. And that therefore people are not as worried. I still come back with Mexico,
Finally, the CNBC host had some good news on the inflationary front. He believes “that things are going to have to roll back prices, things have gotten too expensive.”
Our Methodology
To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down all the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on January 23rd.
For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds invest in? 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).
12. Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 5
Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) is an energy company that primarily extracts and sells coal for industrial and power generation purposes. It is the largest coal producer in the Eastern United States and tends to do well in a period of rising industrial activity. During the nine months ending in September 2024, Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) earned $1.86 billion in revenue which marked a 4.3% annual drop. However, with President Trump in charge and natural gas prices rising, Cramer believes coal companies might start to do well again:
“And David, I think that the coal super cycle, which was of course about as stupid as anything you’ve ever seen, is gonna be back, but I think cause natural gas is going up. I think we all have to accept the fact that means power [inaudible] in coal. And Alliance Resources, that’s the one, 9.9% yield. Absurd that coal could come back.”
11. Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 15
Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) is one of the biggest banks in the world. Headquartered in Spain, it has a presence in the retail, corporate, investment, and other banking markets. Its shares are up by 28% over the past twelve months as a diversified global presence has helped the bank benefit from varying economic climates. Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) benefitted from higher rates in Europe last year which enabled it to post a 20% profit growth in Q2. However, falling rates led to a 2% sequential net interest income drop in the third quarter. Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) is also currently evaluating the impact of a UK court ruling against car financing and customer disclosure. Cramer believes that the stock is worth its while when it comes to European equities:
“So it’s obviously a contra rally. If you have to be there [in European stocks], go to Santander, uh, cause they’re going to have the best numbers.”
10. Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF-B)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 24
Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF-B) is one of the largest alcoholic beverage companies in the US. It is known primarily for its popular Jack Daniel’s whisky lineup. The shares are down by 40% over the past year as rising costs and lower consumer spending have dented Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF-B)’s income statement. The turmoil forced the firm to announce a 12% workforce reduction in January. Cramer believes that while the broader alcoholic beverage industry is facing headwinds, some of Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF-B)’s troubles are of its own making:
“Whisky’s so horrible.”
“But I have to tell you, when I look at liquor, Brown Forman, put money away from Jack Daniel’s, they thought they could get away with it, they put it like on like Tennessee Honey, they didn’t support their main brand. I don’t know, wow. Look at that.” “People were buying their barrels. You know guys were long barrels. When I went to Texas two years ago guys said listen I got barrels. Would like to buy barrels? Yeah, they were trading barrels.”
9. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 28
The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) is an American beer company with a global presence in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Its shares are down by 31% over the past twelve months as the firm has struggled with beer shipments and struggled to turn a profit. More recently, The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM)’s stock dipped by 2% in January after investment bank Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight because of disappointing sales of the firm’s Twisted Tea and Hard Mountain Dew. In his remarks, Cramer commented on The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) downgrade and the broader turmoil in the beer industry:
“But one of the things that I now think I’m going to predict on our show, which is that companies that are in the consumer business, with the exception of airlines, are going to have to roll back prices. I mean I saw a downgrade of Boston Beer today. Beer’s too hot. Beer. Beer has to come down. It does! I mean these, these liquor companies, what do they think, what are they thinking? That you know just let’s keep prices high? And people will drink? You don’t do that. If you don’t sell things in this country, you lower the price.”
8. Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 36
Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) is another ill-fated alcohol stock whose shares ended 2024 7.9% lower. Like Boston Beer, a slow beer market has hurt the firm’s business and caused it to reduce beer growth guidance to 4% to 7% from an earlier 6% to 8%. The guidance cut has contributed to Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)’s shares dropping by 18% year-to-date. In his previous remarks, Cramer outlined that he believes the firm’s management is refusing to acknowledge the slowdown in the beer market. Specifically for Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ), he believes that Hispanic growth hasn’t delivered due to border closures. Here are his latest remarks for the firm:
“For instance, I look at Constellation Brands which is the worst stock that my, one of the worst stocks that my trust has ever owned. And a lot of that I think is well, this is the no drink beer but also people very worried about a tariff there. People worried about people, well look at that [points to stock price chart] you know what that is a chart of my stupid brain. Right there, you see my cortex, that’s my cerebellum right there.”
7. BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 37
BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) is a leading player in the global asset management industry. The firm has performed modestly well over the past year as a gradual monetary policy easing has meant that investors who had sifted to investing in cash are now returning to cash. Their return is clear in BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)’s assets under management which set a fourth consecutive record all-time high in the fourth quarter and sat at $11.6 trillion. During Q4, BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)’s profit jumped by 21%. The firm is also aggressively targeting private markets as it hopes to benefit from perceived lower regulatory hurdles from the Trump administration. Here is what Cramer said:
“Yeah look I found that Larry [BlackRock CEO] was not comforting. I do feel that we’re gonna get some debt issuance, and there could be some debt issuance too far. But at the same time, the kind of thing that Larry is investing in David is things that could get a high return. And when you listen to him you say to yourself, alright, I know what to do. I’ll be in his infrastructure. . . individuals cause I’ll get a higher rate. But I did not feel great, I did not feel as good as I did before when he was here where he just talked about, we’re going to grow our way out of the deficit. I didn’t hear that.”
6. Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 37
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) is a well-known technology and home appliance retailer. Its exposure to consumer spending for pricey items makes it unsurprising that the shares gained a modest 12% in 2024. Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)’s shares have been on a roller coaster in 2024. They surged by 15% in August after its cost-cutting and promotional strategies led to an upgraded full-year EPS to $6.10 and $6.35 from an earlier $5.75 to $6.20. Yet, Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)’s stock dipped by 9% in November after comparable sales dropped by 2.8%. Cramer’s latest remarks for the firm mentioned AI PCs:
“I have a charitable trust, my meeting, my monthly meeting, and I have Best Buy on and I don’t have anything good to say. And we have positions where, you know what, I don’t have anything good to say. And that is because I believed in the AI PC. And we gotta drop it by the way. We gotta stop talking about how the AI PC is going to take the world by storm. Because nobody cares.”
“[When asked why nobody cares about AI PCs] Because you can hit up GPT [inaudible] you want! You don’t need it.”
5. Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 38
Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) is a British chip design house whose products are used in smartphones and data center processors. It surged to the forefront of media attention earlier this month after President Trump announced his $500 billion Stargate AI project. Cramer invited Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) CEO Rene Haas on his show, and co-host David Faber asked Haas whether Softback would sell some of its Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) shares to raise funds for Stargate. This time around, Cramer commented on the firm’s role in Stargate and its CPUs being as important to AI as NVIDIA’s GPUs:
“[On how Arm is relevant to President Trump’s $500 billion Stargate AI project] They have a position [laughs] Softbank has a position in them.”
“[On whether Softbank would have to sell Arm to raise capital for its Stargate commitments] My case is yes. I say yes.”
“You know what, Rene said, and I’ve had Rene on a number of times including last week when I was in San Francisco. Rene is very specific. Where there are GPUs, there are CPUs. He makes CPUs, and he’s got the contracts. And I think that is important, very real. Now is it very real enough that it should have gone up so much yesterday? I don’t know. You know when he said last week when he was on the show, on Mad Money, cause you know there are GPUs and there are CPUs. And [inaudible] are GPUs, then you find Arm. So I would not call it revelatory. I would not call it new. But we have a market that has animal spirits David.”
4. American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 41
American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) is one of the largest airlines in America. It has a domestic and a global presence. Its stock faced ‘turbulence’ in 2024 when the shares dropped by 15% in May after American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)’s Q2 unit revenue drop guidance was lowered to a midpoint of 5.5% from an earlier 2%. Investors were spooked as the cut came at a time when the industry was expected to benefit from growing holiday travel. However, American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)’s shares surged by 16% in December after it signed an exclusive credit card partnership with Citi. Cramer’s comments revolved around a 9% share price drop in January after American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) Q1 2025 midpoint loss per share forecast of 30 cents missed analyst estimates of 4 cents by a mile:
“But because they had a labor contract. How could these analysts not know that. Giant labor contract. And it was like this this plan is a nose [in] your face and they didn’t know it David. The analysts are the fault of these, the fault is in themselves, not the stars.”
3. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 43
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) is one of the most well-known data analytics companies in the world. Most of Cramer’s remarks about the firm have surrounded its ability to benefit from a push for cost-cutting at the Pentagon under the new Trump administration. Previously, the host has shared optimism about Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)’s ability to profit from the cost-cutting initiatives. However, his latest comments took a more downbeat turn:
“Now Palantir by the way is so far not really at the seat at the table that I always thought they would be at the Defense Department. And I think what we have to watch is the Defense Department going to be able to defeat DOGE? And if they defeat DOGE, they’re gonna, then Palantir’s not going to be as successful as I really want them to be because Palantir’s got ways to be able to cut the budget, the defense budget. And be I think, better warfighters.”
Yet, despite the lack of clarity, Cramer is still a fan of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) CEO Alex Carp as he believes that Carp is one of the smartest people in the world.
2. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 46
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) is a well-known video gaming company that is behind the popular video game title Grand Theft Auto. 2025 is going to be an important year for the firm as it prepares to launch the next GTA iteration, GTA VI. Along with GTA, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) also has other well-known titles such as Borderlands and Sid Meier’s Civilization that are due for an upgrade in 2025. Cramer’s comments about Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) surrounded video game rival EA:
“[On EA’s recent quarter] But do you think that there should be a reflection on Take-Two which has got Grand Theft Auto next year? I don’t think so. I think it’s sui generis, I think Electronic Arts has somehow done things wrong and I think Strauss Zelnick is doing things right. I wonder whether gaming’s gotten too expensive.”
1. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 46
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) is one of the biggest video game companies in the world. The firm is primarily known for its sports video game titles such as FIFA and NFL. The titles provide Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) with a good moat as its exclusivity deals and stable demand from sports fans mean that the firm is nearly guaranteed a market for its games. However, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)’s fourth-quarter earnings released in January led to its shares tanking by 15%. The shares dropped as the firm’s latest sports title, FC 25, fell below bookings expectations. Here’s what Cramer said:
“This is terrible, it’s a terrible quarter. But do you think that there should be a reflection on Take-Two which has got Grand Theft Auto next year? I don’t think so. I think it’s sui generis, I think Electronic Arts has somehow done things wrong and I think Strauss Zelnick is doing things right. I wonder whether gaming’s gotten too expensive.”
EA is a stock Jim Cramer recently talked about. While we acknowledge the potential of EA 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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than EA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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