In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer unpacked the deepening uncertainty gripping both markets and politics as investors brace for higher inflation, elevated yields, and an unpredictable White House. With bond yields climbing and tariffs expanding across sectors, Cramer highlighted just how fragile investor conviction has become:
[talking about rising bond yields on 10Y treasuries] “You have a lot of people who say, you know what, I’ve got to revisit everything because of the inflationary nature. Maybe I have to buy them at 5-6%. Now, the reason I say that is because I think when the average person looks at the huge inflation that’s coming, they can’t think of a reason to buy bonds. And that’s where I’m stuck. Why would I buy that piece of paper? I mean, if the Japanese are selling that piece of paper and the Chinese are selling that piece of paper, why am I buying that piece of paper? And the answer is, I’m not. Let’s wait. A lot of things are ‘let’s wait’ in the bond market. In the stock market, there’s people taking action every minute on craziness.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Says Tariff Pain Isn’t Over Yet And Reviews These 9 Stocks and Jim Cramer Calls Market Decline ‘Man-Made’ and Breaks Down 15 Stocks.
He also emphasized the sheer weight of presidential authority in shaping market sentiment, warning that Main Street rhetoric alone won’t shield investors from the fallout:
“The president is very powerful right now. Immensely powerful. More powerful than ever in my life. It would be amazing if the president said, you know what, we’re done for now. We’re done. But he came out and said, now it’s pharma’s turn. So as long as this keeps up, and he said he doesn’t care about Wall Street, he cares about Main Street. At a certain point, if you care about Main Street, then you do actually care about the 401k.”
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 9th.
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).
7. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
As uncertainty around trade and inflation weighs heavily on market valuations, Jim Cramer argued that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sits at the epicenter of investor anxiety, suffering more than any other major tech stock amid tariff concerns and earnings ambiguity. He said:
“I’ve spent maybe 40 minutes trying to figure out what price-to-earnings multiple I should put on the company known as Apple. And the reason I say that is because it’s at the fulcrum of this moment because it’s the one that has uniformly hurt the worst. President last night said billions, 500 billions as if that Apple’s putting here, but it’s; I don’t want to say it’s disingenuous, but I do think that there’s a notion that Apple has by far hurt the most. Do you give it a 16 multiple? Do you give it a 20 multiple? Do you use 645 for the earnings? Now, I’m bringing this up as a metaphor for the lack of secure, lack of any sort of even, let’s just say thought – a rigorous thought – of what Apple – this is one of the largest companies in the world – is going to earn next year and what multiple. And you default to thinking, OK, what’s the historic multiple? Then you take it to a 20, use a 645, and bingo, you see where I’m going. […] What is the most hurt stock? Apple. It is up $5.79. Are those just fools buying it?”
6. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 116
Despite initially pulling its operating income guidance, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) impressed Jim Cramer with its confident tone and leadership during a turbulent macro environment, positioning itself as one of the few retailers with genuine pricing power. He remarked:
“Walmart pulls its operating income guidance for the current quarter. […] People thought they were going to guide down. I heard many people tell me last night, boy, are you ready for Walmart’s big guide down? […]
[after listening to the company’s CEO giving a positive outlook] It’s rather extraordinary to have a level of confidence from the largest retailer. And Doug McMillan should be applauded.
[talking about how the largest retailers have pricing power] And they have power. They have pricing power. And they can make the Japanese, look, the Chinese right now, here’s what they’re saying: we can’t go up against Walmart; we can’t!”
5. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
Cramer took a critical stance on Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), citing its vulnerability to a manufacturing downturn, rising tariffs, and internal warranty issues, despite having followed the rules by localizing production. He said:
[Talking about an analyst downgrade] “Okay, so there’s a piece out this morning which really captures the zeitgeist of manufacturing. Ford, and it’s Bernstein, and they’re going to a sell, and they’re talking about tariffs, they’re talking about decline. Obviously, we’re going to be talking about a recession and how they do in a recession. And what it basically says is, wow, you know what, I know why this stock sells at four times earnings. And it’s a value trap.
And I think it’s a most unfortunate, because Ford makes the 150 here. It’s a great product. They do assemble. We were all told, major companies like Ford were told to do some assembling here. Ford played by the rules. And because they played by the rules, they’re going to be shredded. And I think there’s a notion of, well, is that deserving? And that maybe deserves has nothing to do with it. […] I don’t like Ford. I don’t like Ford because of the warranty issue.”
4. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68
Continuing his bearish take on U.S. automakers, Jim Cramer cast doubt on General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) despite its seemingly cheap valuation, warning that earnings risks could still weigh heavily on the stock. He said:
“I think GM is challenged. […] GM, by the way, just sells at 3.8 times earnings. That sounds cheap, unless the earnings are going to be cut in half. Or cut up by two-thirds, that’s not cheap.”
Jim Cramer has been very sceptical of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) recently. Here’s what he said last week about the stock’s direction:
“Well look with all due respect to the President, there’s this gap. And that’s what I’m concerned about. It’s the gap, which, you have a Jim Farley trying to do the right thing. Mary Barra, trying to do the right thing. Just have this period where they can’t build it there that quickly. I think that they need help or they need a path.”
3. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 126
Continuing the conversation about struggling US automakers, Jim Cramer wanted to categorize Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a different bracket than Ford and GM due to it’s more tech-focused approach and long-term growth potential, saying:
“I think, obviously, Tesla’s challenged, but Tesla has something entirely else going for it. […] Tesla obviously has robots. Tesla’s self-driving. It has options.”
During a recent segment where Jim Cramer broke down all of the Magnificent 7 stocks, he expressed the following thoughts on Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA):
“Finally there’s Tesla, which has been cut in half from his highs. At a very high level the bull case here is that the president’s close relationship with Elon Musk should give the company major advantages as it moves into self-driving cars or humanoid robots. But man, Tesla’s core auto business has collapsed, and the tariffs will be terrible for them. Musk’s persona is a big negative for huge swath of customers or potential customers. Worse, Tesla is still the most expensive stock in the Magnificent 7 by a large margin, trading at 87 times this year’s earnings estimates. And I’m not even sure we can trust those estimates because their auto business is in such bad shape.”
2. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 98
Amid fears of broad-brush pharmaceutical tariffs, Jim Cramer defended Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) as an unjustified casualty in the market sell-off, pointing to its minimal import exposure and pristine balance sheet. Here’s his exact analysis:
“Well, we have a $350 billion company, J&J, a AAA balance sheet. The stock is down $5.30 on the president saying that we’re going to hit the pharmaceuticals. Now, once again, we’ve got the meat axe approach. J&J imports the least of the major pharma. Should they be down as much or more as the most? And what would happen if the president said, you know what, we’re going to start thinking making Commerce Department exceptions. We’re not going to hit U.S. companies as much as we’re going to hit foreign. Should AstraZeneca and J&J both be tariffed at the same price? Right now, we just make these decisions, and we don’t distinguish among companies because we almost seem to have a policy which is companies are unimportant. At what point do we say, you know what, this company is importing less and bringing things in.”
1. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 150
Looking for safety at a time of geopolitical and macro uncertainty, Jim Cramer highlighted UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) as a prime example of a domestic, tariff-insulated stock likely to outperform in this environment. He explained:
“Right now, there’ll be a lot of fund managers who say, why do I need any of this? Just give me stocks that are American stocks that have nothing to do. And UnitedHealth, which sells at 19 times earnings, would probably sell at 25 times earnings in the near-term future, because UnitedHealth actually defines what I’m telling you people want. Up another 12 today. And that’s how money managers work. They’ll buy Humana, they’ll buy UNH, they’ll buy Cigna. […]
You’re going to hear people come on, like on two-stock lunch or whatever, and they’re going to say, you know what? I like UnitedHealth and Humana here. Why? Well, they’re totally independent. Totally domestic.”
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