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Was Jim Cramer Right About AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV)?

We recently published an article titled Was Jim Cramer Right About These 10 Stocks? In this article, we are going to take a look at where AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) stands against the other stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about.

During the latest episode of Mad Money, which aired on May 13th, Jim Cramer unpacked the extraordinary rebound in U.S. markets following President Trump’s abrupt pivot away from aggressive tariffs, declaring:

“Trillions were lost. Bulls were turned into bears. Bears were turned into meat-eating grizzlies. And money poured out of stocks. Six weeks later, it’s like the whole thing never happened.”

READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s 9 Failed Predictions From 12 Months Ago AND Jim Cramer Nailed These 12 Stock Predictions.

He emphasized how hedge funds and short-sellers were caught completely off guard, triggering one of the most dramatic reversals in recent history:

“The big money, the hedge funds, and the fast traders have been caught on the other side of the line of scrimmage, and it is costing them.”

Reflecting on Trump’s unexpected about-face—and its massive market implications—Cramer summed it up bluntly:

“The bears are paying the price while the individual investors who held on are basking in the glory of one of the greatest rallies ever, as the president ultimately made the extremely rational decision to not destroy the entire stock market.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 10 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the Mad Money episode that aired on the 13th of May 2024. We then calculated their performance for the past 12 months, until May 13th, 2025, market close. We have also included the hedge fund sentiment for the stocks, which we sourced from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database of over 900 hedge funds. The stocks are listed in the order that Cramer mentioned them.

Please note that this article mentions Jim Cramer’s previous opinions and may not account for any changes to his opinions regarding the stocks that are mentioned. It is primarily an examination of how his previously provided opinions have panned out.

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).

A rocket on its way to the sky, representing the power of the company’s unmanned aircraft systems.

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21

A viewer called to check in on AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV), which had been selected for a military program at the time. Cramer reiterated his long-standing bullish stance:

“Oh yeah, no — we’ve been behind AeroVironment forever. And the reason is because they make drones that are much less expensive than the other stuff that the military buys. If we’re going to win in the wars that we’re involved in, we need cheap drones — not the real expensive stuff — because the real expensive stuff, you can’t make fast enough, and it’s just going to bankrupt our budget.”

The drone maker did not fly higher, falling 11.04% since that segment.

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a defence contractor that designs and manufactures small unmanned aircraft systems (drones) and tactical missile systems.

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

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

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

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

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In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

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