Jim Cramer on Intel Corporation (INTC): ‘They Crushed Altera. They Did A Terrible Job’

We recently compiled a list of the Jim Cramer Remembers COVID-19 & Discusses These 11 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) stands against the other stocks.

In a recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer recalled the stock market crash due to the coronavirus. The COVID stock crash in 2020 was one of the worst periods in market history after the Great Recession which saw the S&P, Dow Jones, and the NASDAQ 57%, 54%, and 56%. During the COVID selloff, the S&P lost 34% between February and March while the Dow bled 25% and the NASDAQ shed 28%.

Cramer recalled what he was doing just as COVID would start to devastate the markets. He remembered that he was at his birthday party and “had a lot people at Manhattan.” At the gathering, Cramer met with hedge fund billionaire David Tepper and the pair discussed an article in the Lancet medical journal which speculated how the virus “could be like the biggest thing ever.”

However, while Cramer and Tepper wondered about the implications of the virus, his co-host David Faber wasn’t too worried. Cramer recalled: “And I remember David Faber, specifically saying that I was a . . . called me a crybaby or just an alarmist. But then the next day like the world closed. Not David’s finest hour. But it was amazing. And it was just one of those things [that] just, happened.”

However, even as markets shed a third or a quarter of their value during the pandemic, the CNBC TV host shared that these losses rarely stick over the long term. After all, according to him, even though the 2008 stock market crash was much worse, the markets have made significant gains since then.

Cramer commented that “people have to recognize that the declines are not necessarily the end of the world. And the future isn’t necessarily bad while the past is good.”  He added that investors were irrational during the pandemic selloff as well. According to Cramer “There were stocks that were bought, there were people who came on air, somewhat recklessly, I’m not going to mention the names. Who drove down stocks to the point where you got bargains you wouldn’t believe.” He recalled buying the shares of one of the most well-known coffee chains in the world for his Charitable Trust at “fifty three.” The price was a bargain, according to Cramer, and he remembered thinking “wow, I mean, see you later.”

Another development that Cramer commented on was the possibility of President Trump’s policies leading to the US exporting more natural gas. Mentioning the natural gas industry in the US, President Trump, and his recent remarks about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the TV host shared:

“Right and then you do have the possibility of a massive increase in export of nat gas. We have a lot of nat gas, it’s just very hard to be able to, you can’t pump it right every second. But we are not in trouble with the amount of nat gas we have. We do I think always, we find it quizzical that Russia has been able to export it so well. I mean all that stuff with Russia, I mean look I think the President is a little bit ahistorical Ukraine may be starting the war.”

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 February 19th.

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).

Is Intel Corp. (INTC) the Best Performing Semiconductor Stock So Far in 2025?

A technician soldering components for a semiconductor board.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 83

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is the ill-fated US chip manufacturing giant in the news in February after its best stock performance in decades. The firm’s narrative is shaped by its manufacturing problems and advanced chip manufacturing processes. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s shares have gained 29% year-to-date after a 34% run in February on the back of market hopes of a buyout of its foundry business or greater investment by the US government. The fourth quarter of 2024 has been quite notable for the firm as well since the number of hedge funds that had bought the shares jumped to 83 from an earlier 68. Cramer commented on reports of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s PC market troubles and other reports:

“Now look. They crushed Altera. They did a terrible job. I think they wrecked Altera. I know some people who kicked the tires off Altera, and they were flat tires. So if Silver Lake wants to go in there, maybe they’re going to get some bargain, uh, there are companies that have, Intel sold a company to Jabil for like nothing a couple of years ago. They can give it away and you’re, you can get a stake, and maybe you combine it. Maybe you go over to AMD and say listen, you own both, and the Justice Department doesn’t look at it. They’re competitors Altera and Xilinx, AMD and Xilinx. But look go ahead Silver Lake, I found it to be difficult to believe that they would do it unless they got it for nothing. So anyone whose buying Intel thinking that this is going to solve their balance sheet, or that maybe it creates a value that the market will do. Look at MobilEye, they tried to do that, stinks. Look, balance sheets matter. In favor of Intel is Dave Zinsner, whose a serious CFO whose now CEO. And I really like him. Against it is they have old foundries, called them factories, they are in a dog fight with ARM and with AMD. And you know those guys have knives, those guys have guns and this company has knives!”

“I was a huge fan of Gina Raimondo, but I told her over and over again, don’t go with Intel. Don’t go with Intel. That’s Gelsinger, he’s a dreamer, don’t go with them! And you know, sometimes what happens is like when [inaudible] Jim, you’re someone who’s on TV. And we’re real. And I come back and say, no, I’m real and you guys a pretenders! I mean I didn’t just fall off the, the semiconductor turnip truck, and you know I can read a balance sheet, they could have looked at the balance sheet, but they were dreamers and they got with the wrong company. They got with the wrong company. They should have gone with somebody who is a heavyweight, but most people didn’t need the money. “

Overall INTC ranks 11th on our list of the stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about. While we acknowledge the potential of INTC 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 INTC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.