In this article, we will look at the stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar as he highlighted AI winners to buy for 2026. The host of CNBC’s Mad Money said on Tuesday that the market right now is driven by skill rather than luck, and added that the list of stocks he is recommending for 2026 is built on that idea rather than chance.
Something seismic happened this earnings season, and the market is still trying to come to terms with it. We’ve seen an explosion of profits from all sorts of companies that are connected to the data center, the AI revolution, including companies that we typically associate with the so-called real economy… This is an incredible shift. It’s an incredible moment for the data center plays and pretty much nothing else. Almost everything else is kind of blah except on days of course when Iran blows something up, and oil goes higher.
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Cramer referenced a concept introduced by Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, who has described the AI economy as a “five-layer cake.” The idea behind that term is that the sector is a stack of interconnected industries, all of which benefit from the same infrastructure and technology buildout.
Here’s the bottom line: AI is inexorable, it’s fierce, and it’s making believers fortunes. Those who don’t see it and are stuck in enterprise software or sitting out tech entirely are missing enormous gains. It ain’t done. Those with S&P index funds get a diluted piece of the action. Those who pick the right stocks could get it all, because I just gave you the buy list for 2026 and beyond.
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 27 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on May 5. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them.
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 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
27 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar Including AI Winners Like Intel, Eaton, and More
27. MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ)
MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) was one of the stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar as he highlighted AI winners to buy for 2026. Noting that the stock has risen over the past few weeks, a caller asked how much “runway” it has left. Cramer said:
We had Mr. Mas on when we did the University of Miami show, which was so terrific. And I would tell you this, it is another company that I would’ve included at the top because it’s such a great one for the data center.
MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) is an infrastructure engineering and construction company that provides building, installation, and maintenance services for the communications, energy, and utility sectors. Invesco Ltd‘s Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) in its Q4 2025 investor letter:
MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ): An infrastructure contractor, delivering critical services across communications, energy, power and water systems, Mastec is involved with the AI infrastructure build-out for fiber networks and data centers. The stock rose in the fourth quarter, which gave us an opportunity to sell the position to fund opportunities we believe have more upside to intrinsic value.
26. Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)
Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was one of the stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar as he highlighted AI winners to buy for 2026. Answering a caller’s query about the stock during the lightning round, Cramer commented:
Altria is, you know, that’s Marlboro. I don’t recommend the tobacco stocks. I will tell you since you have it already, it has gone parabolic too, and I think you should ring the register in half the position.
Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) makes and sells tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, nicotine pouches, and e-vapor products. During the episode aired on November 4, 2025, a caller inquired about the stock, and Cramer responded:
Okay, I can, you know, I don’t recommend tobacco stocks, but I did as preparation, when I went, did my work for what stocks have been the best over the long term in How to Make Money in Any Market, I was shocked to indeed see that the best is Altria, Philip Morris. I can’t fight it. I can’t fight the returns. I won’t recommend it personally, but I can’t fight it.
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