Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, said on Friday that the data center space may be starting to steady itself after a difficult stretch in the market.
“After an agonizing period where Wall Street decided it was done with one of the greatest growth stories in history, artificial intelligence and everything attached to it, today, we got a reprieve, maybe even a second wind that showered money on the cohort. For those of us with positions that rely on the AI data center build-out, like my Charitable Trust, do you know that this was one of the best days of the year? Although that wasn’t fully reflected in the averages… I gotta say, today was a real relief because owning the AI stocks has been a very rough ride lately. First, we now realize that there may be not enough money to go around and keep the data center build-out going.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s Latest Insights on These 13 Stocks and Jim Cramer Was Bullish on 10 Stocks Due to Share Buyback Activity.
Cramer said the industry has run into real barriers, ranging from worker shortages and limited materials to insufficient power supply. On top of that, he noted that the stock market has begun penalizing hyperscalers for aggressive expansion plans that were once celebrated by Wall Street. He noted that the companies continue spending enormous sums in an effort to keep pace with one another, and Wall Street is showing clear signs of fatigue with that approach.
“High expectations can be a real killer of tech stocks, and expectations are staying way too high. Now… the good news is that the year of magical investing has ended, so almost every one of the speculative stocks, meaning the quantum computing, the nuclear stocks, the undercapitalized data center builders, the bogus Bitcoin extensions, and alternative power companies, they’ve all gone out of style, thank heavens. I find those groups nauseating because so many of you were losing money. I was doing my best to try to get you out of them, but I didn’t.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 7 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on December 19. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. 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).
7 Stocks That Were on Jim Cramer’s Radar
7. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 89
NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is one of the stocks that was on Jim Cramer’s radar. Cramer highlighted the role and strategy of the company’s CEO during the episode, as he commented:
“How about Elliott Hill at Nike? This situation’s much more complicated. Elliott inherited a broken Nike, a company that literally seemed to have lost every bit of its former mojo…. Nike lost it. Under Elliott’s predecessor, the company became a dull, non-inventive, mediocre sneaker play, with its product being pushed through the digital channel, even though most people like to try on a pair of expensive shoes. Elliott had to dismantle North America, which had been divided into men’s, women’s, and children’s shoes, returning the business to sports verticals like running, basketball, international football.
He had to clean up hundreds of millions of dollars in old, not that attractive inventory. He had to patch up destroyed relations with retailers, and he pulled it off in a little more than a year’s time. It was incredible. The Nike US business had some killer numbers in the quarter announced last night. The turns at hand. So why did the stock get annihilated then, down more than 10%? Because the previous regime didn’t just screw up the US, it put China on a course of destruction that’s come home to roost right on Elliott’s head… And yes, it was that bad.
Go read the conference call. When you do, you hear this line, ‘We always believed that our growth will come through sport, but the reality is we’ve become a lifestyle brand competing on price in China.’ Lifestyle brand? Nike? Competing on price? That’s for mortals. Nike’s immortal. Numbers were horrendous… This is awful. It’s simply too hard to turn things around in one or two quarters, even though Nike’s US business has already found its footing. Elliott’s now setting his sights on China. You either believe he can win, or if you don’t, you have to sell. I don’t know when this stock will make a comeback, but I bet it happens in the next year. And when it does, the $58 stock was headed to $80. However, if you’re not a believer in Elliott, then just sit this one out because I’ve got a feeling you won’t have the patience to wait for the turn.”
NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is an athletic and casual footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories company that sells its products under brands, including Nike, Jordan, and Converse.
6. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) is one of the stocks that was on Jim Cramer’s radar. Cramer called it a “remarkable company” during the episode, as he said:
“Right now, I see two of these CEOs orchestrating turnarounds, happening right under our noses, under the leadership of Raj Subramaniam at FedEx and Elliott Hill at Nike, but only one of which is being recognized. FedEx, which was built by the late Fred Smith, is a remarkable company that’s become ubiquitous with one of the greatest competitive modes I’ve ever seen. Only United Parcel can rival… [it], and I think FedEx is a better company… Fred told me that I’d be dazzled by his successor, Raj. Well, of course, Fred was right about that, just like he was right about so many other things…
This latest quarter showed a FedEx that’s a better leader than I ever thought possible, with incredible numbers, albeit [an] unheralded move to the business-to-business space, pivoting some from its previous business to consumer orientation. Business-to-business is sticky. It is where the money is. FedEx pretty much owns the pharma delivery business now, the biggest segment of delivery in the country. They’ve also developed a data center business that could eventually be huge…
Best of all, this happened at a time when you might have expected FedEx to report a series of missed numbers thanks to the tariffs. Think about it. China had been big. Now, it’s diminished. Tariffs have roiled almost all cross-border trade. We have a slowdown in the US and need the Fed’s help. All these things would have probably derailed the old FedEx. Not so Raj’s. Yet, the stock barely reacted to last night’s quarter. It’s had a big run. My advice, stay long. Comes down, buy more.”
FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) provides transportation, shipping, and logistics services, including express and freight delivery, e-commerce solutions, and supply chain management.
5. Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 34
Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) is one of the stocks that was on Jim Cramer’s radar. Cramer noted that he agrees with the analysts bullish toward the company, as he remarked:
“Analysts at Citizens pounded the table on Kura because they really believe in the technology and the company’s now sitting on a big pile of cash. This is a company with a pro forma cash position for $745 million, very little debt. When you consider that its market capitalization is just $500 million, oh, come on, you’re practically getting their whole cancer franchise for free. And you know what? I agree with the bullish analysts.
Of course, I stand by what I said to… [the caller who asked about the stock the previous night], it’s purely speculative stock. But if you want to speculate on cancer treatments, I think this could be a great way to go. Overall, I see lots to like here…. I also like that Kura now has plenty of cash flowing into the business, and I love the fact that the stock has pulled back hard over the past two weeks despite all the good news coming out of the American Society of Hematology conference.
This stock peaked at $12.49 mid November, the day the FDA approved the lead drug. It’s now down to just under 10 bucks, back to where it was trading in mid-October. In other words, you’re actually getting that FDA approval for free at this point. So here’s the bottom line… While it’s very much your typical speculative biotech story, it’s one of the stronger ones I’ve seen in a very long time.”
Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) is developing targeted cancer therapies focused on genetically defined leukemias and solid tumors, with several drug candidates in clinical development. In November, the company, along with Kyowa Kirin, received FDA approval for KOMZIFTI (ziftomenib), a once-daily oral targeted therapy for adults with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia.
4. Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 53
Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) is one of the stocks that was on Jim Cramer’s radar. Cramer noted the company’s earnings and analyst sentiment toward it. The Mad Money host stated:
“If you want to get a real read on employment, I always like to check in with Paychex. That’s the payroll processor and outsourced human resources play, mainly serves small and medium-sized businesses. This morning, Paychex reported a modest top and bottom-line beat, management raising the midpoint of the full-year earnings forecast for the second quarter in a row. So far, so good.
But when some of these analysts dug down, they saw things they didn’t like. The company’s management solutions business narrowly missed its revenue estimates. They said that full-year revenue outlook could come in closer to the low end of their previous forecast. I wouldn’t be sure about that, but that is why the stock got hit today. Although then again, Paychex tends to sell off on earnings even when the quarter’s pristine.”
Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) provides human capital management solutions, including payroll processing, payroll tax and compliance, HR administration, benefits, and workforce management for small to mid-sized businesses.
3. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 122
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is one of the stocks that was on Jim Cramer’s radar. Cramer highlighted it as a “debt-laden software company,” and commented:
“Let’s talk about what needs to happen. What could go right, a little more optimistic, to get the data center theme back on track? Right now, the biggest ambush in this market comes from Oracle, the debt-laden software company turned data center builder. They’ve got a huge client called OpenAI, the privately held company that’s been a pioneer in artificial intelligence and the bots that go with it… Oracle’s charged with building out $300 billion worth of orders for these guys… An old-fashioned tech company reinvents itself as a data center builder and crows about it. Not only does Oracle have the huge order from OpenAI, they got another $223 billion in orders from other companies.
Oracle has put the potential revenue into something called RPO, or remaining performance obligation. Most of the time, that’s almost as good as money in the bank. The OpenAI order, the revelation initially sent Oracle stock from $241 to $345 and change in a single September trading session, although it closed that day at $328…. Of course, Oracle had to raise the money first, so they hit up the bond market for $18 billion, and that’s when the problem started. Bonds can be insured with what’s known as credit default swaps, which you can actually use to bet against those bonds too, even if you don’t own them.
If you fear that Oracle might default, you buy the credit default swaps. The value of Oracle’s credit default swaps soar when the value of the bonds goes down or the perceived value. This spike was picked up by the media, and it derailed everything. Suddenly, Oracle’s grand plan seemed impossible to pull off, and we now believe that the whole data center complex may be stalled. Oracle stock went into free fall, going from $328 down to $178, where it landed two years ago, until it went up a little bit today.”
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) provides cloud and on-premise software, databases, and IT infrastructure to help businesses manage operations.
2. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 75
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) is one of the stocks that was on Jim Cramer’s radar. Cramer highlighted the company’s performance for the year, as he remarked:
“Meanwhile, there are plenty of IPOs and acquisitions, which have caused furious buying of the bank stocks. We saw a very positive article about Wells Fargo in the journal. Goldman Sachs up 56% for the year, now eclipse[s] most of the performance of the Magnificent Seven. There’s a reason for that. Goldman Sachs may be growing faster than almost all the stocks in tech, let alone the Magnificent Seven. And by the way, had a lot less risk, which is what really matters. These financial and consumer spending companies just keep delivering better and better and better expected numbers as expectations are incredibly low versus the monstrously high expectations for anything related to the data center.”
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) provides financial services, including investment banking, asset and wealth management, and banking solutions. During the November 21 episode, a caller asked Cramer about the company acquiring a majority stake in Excel Sports Management, and he responded:
“You know, I wasn’t crazy about that. It’s funny you mentioned that because someone asked me about it the other day…. Why are they buying it? I said, you know what, I gotta tell you, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me. The stock reversed horribly today. It was up really nice at one point. It’s a big position in my Charitable Trust, and then just came down hard. I hope it’s nothing to do with that. You know… you and I are, we’re, we’re plain thinkers, and Goldman shouldn’t do something that isn’t exactly what is right in their sweet spot, and this one isn’t.”
1. Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 69
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL) is one of the stocks that was on Jim Cramer’s radar. Cramer explained why the stock is “exciting to people,” as he said:
“The AI theme lost its luster, didn’t it? Buyers moved on to other, more exciting areas. That consumer’s resurgence out of nowhere, that’s an exciting story. For example, it’s ignited retail, anything connected to discretionary spending, and that’s what drove, say, the stock of Carnival, almost 10 points higher today on greater numbers that it released just this morning. And also by the way, they reinstated the dividend. I’ve always been partial to cruise lines because they’re so inexpensive, and Carnival Corp offers a real bargain. That’s one of the reasons why the stock is exciting to people.”
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL) runs cruise lines and offers vacation trips. The company also manages ports, hotels, lodges, and tours that support its cruise business. During the October 17 episode, a caller asked about the stock, and Cramer stated, “I’m a buyer of Carnival. Let me throw in that I like Royal too.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that 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 CCL and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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