In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer dissected the market’s recent rally and reminded his viewers to not mistake short-term optimism for resolution. As major indices bounced earlier in the day, Cramer warned that some deeper structural uncertainties remain unresolved, saying:
“Well, I think that those who are running companies are saying, what the heck is going on here? We’re trying to run our companies. Suddenly, we find that a country that we’ve dealt with for a long time, we have to just say, wait a second, we’re going to put a surcharge on. We’re going to pass through. So the issue is, who can pass through and who isn’t? Who has pricing power? It’s often like that. Who has scale? Who has pricing power? Who can tell the Chinese, listen, we’re going to go away, of which then you have out-of-stock parts. And who says, OK, we’ll split the tariff.
When it comes to money managers, I think money managers are looking at this snapback and saying, listen, just ignore it. Or use it to get out. Because tomorrow is decision day. And China’s not going to blink. Japan will blink, by the way. I think a lot of people feel that, wait a second, if Japan’s willing to blink, then China should. But China’s not going to. So when we come in tomorrow, it’s going to be, well, China isn’t blinking. Let’s take numbers down. And numbers down, move stocks lower.”
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Cramer acknowledged the bullish hopes circulating among traders and policymakers that quick deals with allies like Japan, Mexico, and Canada could offset the trade war’s damage. But he was clear that these deals, while politically useful, won’t erase the inflationary burden already being felt by companies and consumers:
“[Talking about expectations about the White House reaching deals with other countries] There’s going to be a deal. They’re very excited about Japan and the administration. Exactly. They’re very excited. By the way, they like Korea. […] Yeah, I think that Mexico, they are very much expecting it’s going to be a better deal. Canada, and they’re going to be able to trumpet a few days from now. Look what we’ve done by being really tough. And you know what? The Chinese are going to fold. They believe that the Chinese will fold.”
At the heart of Cramer’s analysis was a question he believes investors need to ask themselves:
“So, then the question becomes at a certain point, do you believe in everything else about President Trump that you’re willing to overlook the inflationary aspects? Do you believe the social aspects, are they so important to you? Do you believe the commitment he’s made to try to cut the budget deficit? Do you believe President Trump just decided, I’m not going to focus on the inflation? Because that’s really been unusual to not focus on inflation.”
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 8th.
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).
9. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) found itself at the center of the tariff discussion during the show, as Cramer and his co-hosts questioned how much cost pressure the company and its partners could absorb before consumers began to push back. Here are Cramer’s remarks:
“So if you’re Apple, and I know Craig Moffett is a little too negative. I think about Apple for Moffitt days. Yes. He’s saying, okay, so the tariffs are going to be eaten by some by Verizon on the phone, some by T-Mobile, some by AT&T. Some by the carriers and then some by the customers. So therefore, do their sales drop versus Samsung? Or is the universe of people who use it, it’s not fungible? And then the other thing is that this move by Apple to move to India, that won’t cut it with President Trump. President Trump wants them to build a wall. […] And that’s why the research is so heavily negative on Apple today. I think Apple has said, listen, we’ll put $500 billion, maybe more, into our country. And I don’t think the President believes that. […] There’s three underweights of Apple today, and they are all saying, get out now.”
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the stocks that Jim Cramer recently went over during a segment on his Mad Money program. Here are his latest remarks:
“Boy I don’t know… These tariffs are going to be a killer. According to an analysis at the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s tariffs will take the cost of an iPhone 16 Pro from 550 to around 850, and that’s not counting the new tariffs he threatened to unleash on China today. I think the real costs are lower because of Apple’s manufacturing shift to India, but even if it only goes up by half that amount, it’s still a huge increase, although hopefully the companies will eat a chunk of it. […]
8. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 31
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) was framed as one of the few retailers with enough leverage to push back against rising costs caused by tariffs. With its low-margin business model and membership-based revenue stream, Costco was highlighted as potentially being in a better position than most to limit price increases and maintain customer loyalty, according to Cramer:
“I think what’s going to happen is the big guys, are going to offer much lower prices. I think Costco is going to be the lowest prices. Costco doesn’t mark up because Costco wants to make money from the war. They have a lot more leverage with their supplier. Of course, they don’t have everything, but yeah, I think the most leverage.”
7. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 31
The segment noted that Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) is currently trading at depressed levels as deal-making activity has stalled due to macro uncertainty. With the IPO and M&A markets frozen, there was speculation on whether the stock had priced in too much negativity. Here are Cramer’s thoughts on the stock:
“Let’s take a stock like Goldman Sachs, OK? Goldman Sachs now reflects no IPO. No IPO market. No M&A. So what do you pay for Goldman? Do you pay […] I mean, the stocks aren’t very big today. Do you pay 10 times? Do you pay 11 times? I don’t know. Well, what happens if David Solomon… And I don’t know this. What happens if David Solomon comes out and says, you know what, we caught this one?”
6. Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 31
Despite the tariff headwinds that are shaking global apparel makers, Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) remains as one of Cramer’s favorite. He emphasized the company’s resilient earnings, strong direct-to-consumer pivot, and upbeat analyst upgrades, suggesting it may be an overlooked opportunity amid broader retail weakness.
“[Talking about the CEO of Levi Strauss] She’s trying to figure out what to do where. But what matters is they have tremendous organic growth. Management reiterated their earnings per share guidance of $1.20-$1.25. Our friend Matt Boss has a terrific piece out saying it’s the early innings. Upgrades to overweight. Don’t forget they have a 3.8% yield. And denim is doing incredibly well. And you come into stocks at 10 times earnings. This is the kind of thing that I like. Stock that is just being crushed where the fundamentals are actually improving. And there are enough out there that you just have to find them. So I like Levi Strauss very much. And look, I think that their direct-to-consumer initiative is very strong.”
Here’s exactly what Jim Cramer said during his Mad Money program about Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) the day before:
“Levi Strauss is a great American company that should not have been able to deliver such a great number if things are so bad. […] We had a strong quarter, a very strong beat on EPS […] All regions around the world and all categories were positive this quarter, and it is a testament and a proof point that these strategies are working.”
5. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 339
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was highlighted as a stock that has dropped sharply despite continued strong performance. Concerns around data center cost pressures and tariff-linked demand issues have weighed on shares, but Cramer pointed to the silver lining:
“And there are a lot of stocks that are down 50%. Look at Broadcom, which announced a $10 billion buyback. And by the way, just so you know, that has to be done by year end. Hock Tan, the key line was, and we’re going to buy it by year end. That stock was down 38% and it hit every quarter. So, I mean, there you go. Like, what was that doing down 38%? Well, because it’s data center. The word about data center is… And so there’s one you can buy because it’s underneath. They will always be there. We’ll get a big sell-off tomorrow, say, because of China.”
4. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 339
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) came up in the context of companies with scale and pricing power. Jim Cramer discussed how Amazon may be willing to let its private label products go out of stock rather than absorb costs. Here’s what he said:
“Now, in Amazon’s case, I think they can say, hey guys, why don’t you just send the empty ships to U.S.? And they’re saying, listen, we’ve got other countries that want our stuff, but do they? Do they have other countries? We take everything from China. That’s over. Will the Europeans buy their stuff? […] I think we’re going to hear the Amazons and the Walmarts saying, you know what, we’d rather be out of stock. We’ll be out of stock on Amazon Basics. We don’t care.”
Here’s what Jim Cramer had to say about Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) the day before during his Mad Money program:
“Right on top of the list [of the magnificent 7] is Amazon. The main knock against Amazon is that the tariffs will crush their core e-commerce business. After all, most of this stuff is made overseas and it’s about to get a lot more expensive. But I think they become more of a consumer staples business like Walmart, because they sell so many necessities at the best prices. Plus, all retailers have to deal with the tariff problem. Question is who has the scale to lean on their suppliers and force them to eat the cost of the tariffs? Nobody has more bargaining power than Amazon. It has all the cards. […]
Keep in mind that this company has a lot going for it, from the sticky prime subscription business that engenders customer loyalty, to the Amazon web services business that has enough growth to offset any weakness in retail with excellent margins. Amazon currently trades at around 25 times this year’s earnings estimates; about half of its historical valuation. That makes it a steal frankly.”
3. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 83
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was portrayed as a fundamentally strong healthcare name dragged down by sentiment and litigation risk. Cramer acknowledged investor fears surrounding the talc lawsuits but suggested the worst-case scenario may be priced in. Here’s his analysis:
“Wow, J&J is another one people like that’s just going down so much. But a lot of people just are very fearful of Robert Kennedy Jr. […] For retail investors, there are these stocks that have good yield and good fundamentals. And I think that J&J is one of those. And Goldman recommends it today. And I just urge people to take a look and say, you know what, that stock is down, not down all the way at the bottom, but it’s very low. And maybe I should be a buyer. […]
[Talking about the talc litigation] I think the talc litigation, that was a very bad blow for them. That they were paying, say, ten. But I will tell you this, that if you just amortize how much they have to pay, even if it’s twelve, fifteen, or if you talk about them fighting, they haven’t lost any suits since the Missouri government. […] I do think that they’re going to come out okay on that.. But I am confident that they have, they can fight each one, it’ll cost money, but the plaintiffs should have, there’s just only one plaintiff that’s really holding out, so I like it.“
2. Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 94
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was discussed as a bellwether for the broader semiconductor space, especially under rising trade tensions. Despite announcing surcharges to offset costs, the stock held up, with Cramer noting that memory markets are typically the first to signal demand weakness, but Micron still looked attractive.
“[Talking about the cost of servers going up] Yes, and I think that we’re going to see surcharge, surcharge, surcharge. Micron put a surcharge on this point. They did. And yet their stock’s up. So maybe we’ll say, oh, Micron’s passing it on. Maybe we can pass it on. Micron’s stock didn’t get hurt. [In terms of relocating production] You can go to Korea. You can go to Korea. memory is the first to go because it’s the shortest contracts. They have high bandwidth memory. Sanjay is, I think, the most forward-looking about what can happen because he’s in a tug-of-war against Korea. And what happens if the Koreans continue? The White House likes Korea, though. They’re making a deal.”
When asked by a caller during a recent program, Jim Cramer gave another positive outlook on Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU). Here’s what he said:
“They have this high bandwidth business that is just on fire… The stock has come down to the point where it is selling at like a steel company—actually below a steel company… Even if they cut estimates big, I don’t think there’s a lot of downside and there will be upside… I’m a buyer of Micron here.”
1. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was mentioned as a potential rebound play after a sharp pullback. Jim Cramer acknowledged the risks tied to a possible recession and rising infrastructure costs but argued that much of the downside was already priced in, saying:
“Meta, 27 points, it’s up. Now, but then you look at it, you say, oh, wait a second. Meta was at 740, now it’s 540. Let’s keep buying Meta. And that’s what’s going on in people’s heads. Down too much from the high. [talking about advertising going down in case of a recession] So I would say at 500, that has the advertising going down. This is priced in. Costs of building; priced, because that cost comes down.”
Jim Cramer discussed Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during a segment where he went over all of the Magnificent 7 stocks very recently. Here’s what he said:
“Meta Platforms looks like a relative winner from tariffs because they sell advertising so there’s little direct impact. Now that could change if Meta becomes the target of European tariff retaliation – always a possibility – or if the trade war throws our economy in a recession too, another real possibility. But with Meta stock now down more than 30% from its highs two months ago I think many of these negatives including a potentially soft advertising market are already baked in. Plus, Meta is not getting enough credit for its AI growth opportunities. Stock sells for just under 20 times this year’s earnings estimate. It sells below the average stock? Not much of a discount to historical valuation but it’s one of the highest quality stories in the formerly Magnificent 7.”
META is a stock Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of META 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 time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than META but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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