In this piece, we will look at the stocks that Jim Cramer discussed.
While the broader debate in the market continues to surround the cost of buying and owning chips and whether AI GPU giant NVIDIA’s products are too expensive, Jim Cramer continues to believe in the firm. The CNBC TV host has recently remarked that the total cost of ownership of NVIDIA’s chips is lower than that of smaller rival AMD. He also believes that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to spend heavily on AI infrastructure is the right call, even though markets have presented mixed reactions to the news. In a recent tweet, Cramer remarked:
“Let’s forget about”momentum” for a second and focus on what Jensen has taught us. You need as much compute as possible at the lowest total cost of ownership. That’s what Mark Zuckerberg knows. That’s what the traders seem to have NO knowledge of. It’s why you own Nvidia”
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 February 18th and tweeted about. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the third quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 978 hedge funds.
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 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
10. Workday Incorporated (NASDAQ:WDAY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 64
Workday Incorporated (NASDAQ:WDAY) is a software company that provides financial management, planning, and other applications. The shares are down by 47% over the past year and by 35% year-to-date. BTIG discussed the firm on February 10th. It reduced the share price target to $230 from $285 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm discussed Workday Incorporated (NASDAQ:WDAY)’s AI strategy and pointed out that it could require the firm to make more investments. A day before, Oppenheimer also discussed the firm as it maintained an Outperform rating. The financial firm outlined that Workday Incorporated (NASDAQ:WDAY) could benefit from the appointment of its new CEO, Aneel Bhusri, in the form of smoother navigation through the software industry’s AI challenges. However, following the CEO’s appointment, Stifel cut Workday Incorporated (NASDAQ:WDAY)’s share price target to $175 from $235 and commented that the firm’s fiscal 2027 guidance could lag estimates. Cramer also tweeted about the new CEO:
“I’m not a buyer of WDAY but lets hope that Aneel Bhusri tells someone, anyone that Anthropic uses WDAY for the same things everyone else does.”
9. GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 108
GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) is an industrial power generation equipment manufacturer. The shares are up by 159% over the past year and by 20% year-to-date. It is one of Cramer’s favorite and most frequently discussed stocks. The CNBC TV host defended GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) even during the firm’s recent struggles and believes that it is the best play when it comes to firms with exposure to the uptick in nuclear power generation stemming from the data center buildout. Baird discussed the firm in early February. It upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and raised the share price target to $923 from $701. The financial firm discussed the current energy generation infrastructure cycle and pointed out that GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) can benefit from it based on evidence from channel checks. Guggenheim also discussed the firm in late January and upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and set a $910 share price target. Some of the factors that it discussed included GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV)’s cash generation, capital returns, and margin expansion. In this appearance, Cramer discussed nuclear power demand:
“I’m just saying that, the CEO of GE Vernova, Scott Strazik, was right there and he’s talking about ’31, ’32. Now he knows more because that’s the company that builds the most nuclear reactors and services them. So I trust him more than I trust the people who say, including maybe the Secretary of Energy who’s a little too bullish.”
8. Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 85
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is a software company that specializes in providing cybersecurity solutions. Its shares are down by 23% over the past year and by 18% year-to-date. The firm reported its earnings last week. The results saw Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) earn $432 million in net income and $2.59 billion in revenue during the second quarter. Cramer has been bullish on cybersecurity stocks for more than a year and repeatedly asserted that the firms stand to benefit from a growth in demand stemming from AI. As part of his earnings release comments, Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s CEO, Nikesh Arora, pointed out that his customers were modernizing their software stack due to AI. Arora added that his firm would also speed up AI integration into its product offerings. Before the earnings, BTIG lowered Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price target to $200 from $248 and kept a Buy rating. Channel checks played a role in the coverage. Cramer mentioned talking to Arora following the earnings:
“I talked to Nikesh and he thinks that it’s a very misunderstood quarter. That if you look at the two companies, the guidance for Palo Alto net and Cyberark separately, remember they did a big Cyberark acquisition, it was actually an increase. Okay, they were ahead individually of the forecast. Now a lot of people fell well come on, it’s turning into a headwind already. He will argue strongly that it is not. I will agree with him that I don’t think it’s this quarter. He talks about if you’re only 95% right with LLMs, obviously that’s not enough, you have to be like a 100% right. But people are not buying what he’s selling this morning. They’re just not buying it. I am.”
The CNBC TV host maintained his views about AI and cybersecurity in a tweet:
“I totally get the destruction of SAAS and Enterprise software but the agents-which are unprotected- and the data, which they generate much more than humans, is unprotected, so i would be raising numbers, pt, Crowdstrike, not lowering.”
Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund also mentioned Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in its Q4 2025 investor letter:
“Within our global strategies, we own several leaders that we believe are well-positioned for this long-term demand. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is evolving from a focus on network security to a broader, cloud-delivered platform that helps customers secure complex hybrid environments.”
7. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 119
Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that provides customer relationship management products. The shares are down by 43% over the past year and by 30% year-to-date. The firm made a key announcement on February 18th when it announced that it would acquire conversational insights and revenue orchestration platform Momentum in order to bolster its Agentforce AI platform and Slackbot. As per Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM)’s Chief Product Officer Steve Fisher, the deal will ensure “Agentforce 360 and Slackbot can incorporate the true voice of the customer to drive complex, multi-step workflows.” Cramer has frequently commented on Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) over the past couple of months. While the CNBC TV host believes that Agentforce is doing well, he is uncertain about the other businesses. Stifel discussed similar factors in a February 17th note. It reduced the share price target to $200 from $260 and kept a Neutral rating. The financial firm pointed out that Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM)’s customers were not eager to switch to AI alternatives and added that feedback on Agentforce was improving. Mizuho also lowered the share price target on the 17th. It cut the target to $280 from $340 and kept an Outperform rating. The bank outlined that Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM), like other enterprise software stocks, was experiencing “horrible” sentiment due to “AI disruption fears.” Even though the shares are down year-to-date, the CNBC TV host is sticking with the company:
“People aren’t buying it. And you know what they’re all saying? That’s how Benioff talks when he talks about Salesforce. And there’s a piece out today talking about how Agentforce isn’t doing well. I know, it’s just doing average, Mark Benioff if he were here right now would be appalled and say that’s absolutely not true.
“It’s at 15 times and simply don’t believe that it’s nuclear war against those guys. But again, I’m on the wrong side of history right now, by sticking with Salesforce in a small position and sticking with Nikesh in a small position, I’m viewed as being antediluvian, and a dinosaur, perhaps even a Velociraptor, just to really narrow things down.”
6. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 69
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) is a software company that caters to the needs of the semiconductor industry by enabling chip designers to create and test their products. The shares are up by 12% over the past year and are down by 8.6% year-to-date. Bank of America discussed Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) on February 10th. It reiterated a Buy rating and a $400 share price target. BofA’s coverage came as the software company announced that it had launched a virtual AI agent to aid customers in the process of designing computer chips. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) claimed that the upgrade was the first agentic software that caters to chip designers. The firm’s products are used by some of the world’s largest chip designers, such as NVIDIA. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS)’s earnings report saw the firm post $1.44 billion in revenue and $1.99 in earnings per share to beat analyst estimates of $1.91 and $1.42 billion. Cramer was impressed by the results:
“You have, Anirudh coming up, Anirudh Devgan. Now he will be able to answer more questions than anyone. Cause he does electronic design automation and is a great partner of NVIDIA. And he will tell you, this stock has not been good performer this year, until this morning down, he reported an absolute blowout quarter, and showed you, without a doubt, this industry, which is the complex part, you have the design, you send it over to Taiwan Semi after you get the packaging”
Rothschild & Co LongRun Equity also discussed Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) in its third quarter 2025 investor letter:
“In this section, we take a closer look at one of our recent investments, Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS), a company that provides the essential tools to design the chips powering today’s most advanced technologies.
Cadence Design Systems is a new holding in the LongRun Equity fund. The company perfectly fits our strategy of owning durable, high-quality compounders in structurally growing industries. Though not a household name, Cadence’s software and hardware tools are mission critical for designing the semiconductor chips that power smartphones, computers, autonomous cars, Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and more. In the following paragraphs, we’ll break down Cadence’s business model and investment rationale in clear and straightforward terms.
When people think about AI, names like Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, or Microsoft usually come to mind. But how do these companies design the advanced chips that power AI? The answer leads to Cadence and Synopsys. These firms provide the essential software that makes designing cutting-edge chips possible – without it, modern AI simply wouldn’t exist…” (Click here to read the full text)
5. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 81
Chip manufacturing giant Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s shares are up by 79% over the past year and by 10% year-to-date. Over this time period, the firm has managed to secure stability after struggling with manufacturing and sales. The shares have performed well since CEO Lip-Bu Tan took over. Cramer has been a believer in Tan since his appointment. Soon after the new CEO became official, the CNBC TV host asserted that his expertise and experience made him a top choice for the role. DA Davidson discussed Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) on February 12th. It assigned a Neutral rating and a $45 share price target and remarked that investors will be excited about future developments at the company. The financial firm added that Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) had embarked on two difficult strategies. These were regaining the lead in the leading-edge manufacturing process industry and simultaneously establishing itself as a leader in the global contract chip manufacturing industry. On both fronts, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is facing tough competition from Taiwan’s TSMC. In this appearance, Cramer continued to have faith in the firm’s CEO:
“Cadence, this company was saved by Lip-Bu Tan, then he went to the board of Intel. Now he runs Intel, Intel doing incredibly well now since Lip-Bu took over. I thought that last quarter was not nearly as bad as people thought. But this is a key component in the food chain for the hyperscalers. And the fact that they did a great quarter is saying to me, maybe we just hate these companies too much.”
4. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 86
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is one of the largest oil companies in the world. Its shares are up by a modest 16.8% over the past year and by a stronger 18% year-to-date. Some of the gains in the stock have been due to US actions in Venezuela, which led Cramer to advise caution and recommend oil and gas drilling equipment providers instead. Melius Research discussed Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) on February 17th as it raised the share price target to $205 and upgraded the stock to Buy. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s exploration and production expansion played a role in the upgrade as Melius pointed out that the firm had increased its acreage by more than 50% and was interested in new opportunities in Iraq and Libya. Cramer has long praised Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s stock and maintained that he prefers it over Exxon. The CNBC TV host reiterated the opinion in this appearance as well:
“It is such a good company to begin with. It’s the only company I would buy here.”
3. QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 28
QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS) is a battery technology company focusing on solid-state batteries. Its shares are up by 30% over the past year but are down by 34% year-to-date. The firm released its fiscal fourth quarter earnings report in February and disclosed that its loss per share for the quarter stood at $0.17 while for the full year it was $0.76. QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS) added that by focusing on cost discipline, it had managed to reduce its fourth quarter net loss to $100.4 million from the year-ago figure of $114.7 million. For the full year, the firm’s net loss improved by 9% to $435 million. As for its guidance, QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS) now expects to bring in $250 million to $275 million for flat growth and spend $40 million to $60 million in capital expenditure to mark a growth over last year’s $36.3 million. Cramer discussed QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS)’s share price movement:
“I have been around for a while, I know that it’s never been clear that their technology works. It’s been a very tough own. But a lot of people, at one point, were focused on battery technology. Solid state, whatever. . .”
2. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 66
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is a cybersecurity company whose shares are down by 11% over the past year and by 23% year-to-date. The shares have lost more than 17% over the past couple of days following Anthropic’s announcement of a new cybersecurity tool for its Anthropic AI platform. This tool, according to the firm, will be able to scan software for vulnerabilities and suggest solutions. Earlier in the month, CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) had scored a win after VPN provider Nord announced that it would use the firm’s software to power its Threat Protection Pro service and bring enterprise-level security features to consumers. Banking giant HSBC discussed CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) on February 13th as it upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and assigned a $446 share price target. The bank cited AI growth and valuation as among the factors that drove the optimism. Cramer has been a long-time believer in CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) and cybersecurity, particularly due to rising demand from AI use cases. In this appearance, his remarks were rather prescient:
“Now George Kurtz from Crowdstrike would say, we’re not doing that, we want to work with someone, good we’ll work with them. That’s not what we’re about. And yet, George and a lot of the other Crowdstrike, look at that, that’s horrible, the multiples have been shrinking in part because people are saying, well it’s just a matter of time before Anthropic bombs them too. Anthropic being the existential player in this business.”
The CNBC TV host also tweeted about cybersecurity and AI:
“I totally get the destruction of SAAS and Enterprise software but the agents-which are unprotected- and the data, which they generate much more than humans, is unprotected, so i would be raising numbers, pt, Crowdstrike, not lowering.”
1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 309
Software giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s shares are down by 4% over the past year and by 18% year-to-date. The stock is down by more than 19% since the firm reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings. While Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s revenue and earnings exceeded expectations, the firm’s cloud business came back to haunt it once again as growth was insufficient to satiate investor expectations, according to media reports. Following the earnings, Stifel downgraded Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s shares to Hold from Buy and cut the share price target to $392 from $540. The firm’s Azure cloud business played a key role in the downgrade as Stifel pointed towards supply challenges and competition from rivals, including Google Cloud and Anthropic. Cramer discussed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) after the earnings and outlined that the firm’s Copilot software wasn’t posting strong user base numbers. He shared the belief once again:
“Of the ones that I’ve been talking about, the one that has to do the biggest, refresh, redo, will be Microsoft. They have to come out with something and just say, listen, Copilot was nice. Like remember, Gemini, before that it was, the Bard?
“Microsoft has to do, they ought to step back, figure out what they’re doing. They were proud of 15 million subs. I mean, are you kidding me? Proud of 1.5 million subs? They got 1.5 billion base. Can you imagine if Tim Cook came out and said, you know what, we have 15 million people who take Apple, I don’t know, the insurance.”
Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund discussed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q4 2025 investor letter:
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares declined after the company reported its third-quarter results. Azure, its cloud services business, grew revenue by 39 percent year over year, exceeding management’s guidance. However, investor expectations were likely higher, particularly in comparison to recent reacceleration trends at other cloud providers. Growth remains limited by capacity constraints rather than demand across all workloads, which may have dampened the market’s enthusiasm. Microsoft plans to increase its AI capacity by 80 percent through June 2026, a move that reflects strong underlying demand. We believe this investment could help alleviate the current bottlenecks and support a reacceleration of growth in the coming quarters. This expansion also reinforces our view of Microsoft’s positioning for sustained above-average growth as AI adoption broadens across industries.”
While we acknowledge the potential of MSFT to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MSFT and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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