In this piece, we will look at the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed.
In a recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer discussed the evolving business environment under the Trump administration. The President made headlines last week when he demanded that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan resign due to his ties with China. However, Cramer also discussed industrial firms and mentioned that their leadership is a constant visitor at the White House. “We have the largest industrials coming to the White House constantly,” said Cramer. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen anything like it. But there’s a lot of things any thing like,” he added.
Cycling back to Tan, Cramer also remarked that the fact that the most valuable companies accounted for a large portion of the S&P 500 index meant that “they have to be the best ten stocks in the world.” He also stressed wanting “to find out more about Lip-Bu Tan, because this is a person’s life. You gotta be a little more, I want to be known as someone who’s a little more circumspect.” Since then, the President has changed his mind about the Intel CEO and called him a “success.” Tan’s “success and rise is an amazing story,” said Trump. “Mr. Tan and my Cabinet members are going to spend time together, and bring suggestions to me during the next week,” he added.
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 August 7th.
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. Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 62
Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) is a cybersecurity company that offers firewalls, application encryption, secure web gateways, and other associated products. Its shares have lost 17% year-to-date after they sank by a stunning 24.8% earlier this month second quarter earnings. Investors panicked after Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) revealed during the report that it might have already accounted for as much as 50% of its firewall upgrade cycle. The revelation forced investors to recalibrate their growth estimates for Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT). Cramer commented on the drop and the lack of firewall growth:
“They missed big. Cybersecurity miss. We tend not to have any. They did a new iteration, no one was really excited about it. You can’t have a not great cybersecurity company, cause they’re all valued on amazingly high revenues.”
Here are his earlier thoughts about Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT):
“No, we don’t want Fortinet. We’re going to wait till CrowdStrike reports. It’s going to go down because that’s what always happens, and then you’re going to snatch some CrowdStrike.”
8. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 77
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is a diversified cybersecurity company that provides network security management, cloud protection platforms, firewalls, and other security products and services. Its shares have lost 3% year-to-date, on the back of a 15% dip in late July, which occurred after the firm announced a massive $25 billion acquisition. The deal is for a cybersecurity company CyberArk Software, and investors were concerned whether it might cause a dilution in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s shares. In his earlier comments about the firm, Cramer mentioned that since the shares were trading below $210, it appeared to be a good time to buy. He’s a believer in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) despite the recent share price dips, as he simply remarked:
“Palo Alto by the way, I still like.”
Here are Cramer’s earlier thoughts about Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW):
“Palo Alto is a buy here. We were going to buy some for the Charitable Trust. I can’t emphasize enough. This stock is now down from 210, I think you got a real good idea.”
7. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 64
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)’s shares have gained 25.81% year-to-date as the firm has moved past last year’s historic outage, which bricked millions of computers worldwide. However, its journey on the market in 2025 has been quite bumpy as the shares fell by 6% in June after the firm disappointed investors with its fiscal second quarter revenue estimates. While analysts had penciled CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) to earn $1.16 billion in revenue, the firm’s high-end guidance projected $1.15 billion in sales as it also warned that Q2 free cash flow would drop by $29 million due to outage and other expenses. Cramer commented on CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)’s valuation:
“Oh Crowdstrike is what, the second most high valuation company after, Palantir. But I don’t care. I think its terrific.”
Here are his earlier comments about CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD):
“No, you got, look, you have the best. Okay, you are in the best, other than Palo Alto… Here’s what you’re going to do: You’re going to take out your cost basis, and then you’re going to let the rest run. And I’ll see you at $1,000.”
6. Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 65
Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) is a cybersecurity firm that enables businesses to secure their cloud, SaaS, and other networks. Its shares have gained 79% year-to-date, which makes the firm one of the top-performing stocks in the cybersecurity sector. However, Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET)’s shares dipped by 3.7% after the firm reported its second quarter earnings despite the fact that its revenue and earnings beat analyst estimates. While Cramer described the post-earnings-drop-recovery as only natural, the shares are still down by 3% from their pre-earnings levels. The CNBC TV host continues to be a Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) fan:
“And these are companies, security, content delivery network, Cloudflare, it’s simple, NET is by far my favorite. Mathew Prince, he’s done s remarkable job in trying to get it so you can’t crawl through, you can’t scrape. He’s trying to preserve the journalists, even us.”
Here’s what Cramer said about Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) after the earnings report:
“Looks like one of my favorites, Cloudflare, is finally getting its due after the cybersecurity company reported an excellent quarter last Thursday night, only to see its stock sink 3.6% on Friday, was dragged down by that quarter’s sell-off. Today, though, Cloudflare snapped back, up more than 4%, which makes perfect sense because these guys delivered a clean beat and raise quarter with better-than-expected numbers in every line for the quarter, and truly strong guidance. Initially, none of this seemed to matter, but with today’s rally, the stock’s now sitting at its highest level in nearly four years and within spitting distance of its COVID-era peak.”
5. Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 14
Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY) is an edge cloud computing firm. Its shares have lost 26% year-to-date as they are yet to recover from a 21% drop in February after the firm’s fourth quarter earnings report. This set of results saw Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY) report a three-cent per share loss, which missed analyst estimates of a breakeven. The firm also guided a midpoint loss of 12 cents per share for fiscal 2025, which was far below analyst estimates of a three-cent profit. Cramer has previously advised viewers against buying Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY), and here are his latest remarks:
“That was a major comeback, Fastly. I had written them off entirely. I know, I mean after Cloudflare I said they’re absolutely dead. But they’re making a comeback, good for them.”
Here are his previous comments about Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY):
“No, I mean they’ve missed a quarter too often. If you want to be in that, you wanna be in CloudFlare, which just reported tonight. Matthew Prince, doing an absolutely terrific job.”
4. e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 29
e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) is a budget cosmetics firm whose shares have lost 5% year-to-date. It is part of the struggling cosmetics sector, which has suffered amidst high inflation. However, e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF)’s shares would be lower had it not been for a 16.8% jump in August. The shares rose after the firm’s second-quarter earnings beat analyst estimates and added to the gains after a Morgan Stanley upgrade. Cramer discussed short seller sentiment surrounding e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF):
“In retail we call it football, that means the price can be fungible, we don’t know what it’s going to actually be. Right now people are saying Elf Beauty may have to do some discount. I’ve got Tarang Amin on, he’s been a remarkable performer. Long term, short term it has not, been down 21. I want to hear what he to say. They are doing a big launch for Sephora, for one of their divisions. But right now, they don’t like it. And it could change because the shorts do panic if there’s a good story. But right now they don’t like it.”
Previously, Cramer discussed e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) before its earnings:
“After we close, we get two more companies that I like very much, and I bet they’ll give us good numbers. That’s Dutch Bros and e.l.f. Beauty. These two renegades, young companies that have disrupted the coffee and cosmetic business, wow, they got a lot of room to grow and take share, and that’s exactly what they’re going to do. Again, good stocks.”
3. Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 20
Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)’s shares have gained 12% since its earnings report to push the stock into the green through 5% year-to-date gains. The earnings saw the firm beat analyst revenue and EPS estimates. Compared to peer Domino’s 1% year-to-date gains, the strong earnings performance pushed Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) ahead in stock market performance. Cramer was surprised by the strong earnings performance as he commented:
“They like Todd Penegor, because it looks like that Papa John’s had a good quarter which is surprising to me because pizza’s been under pressure.”
Previously, Cramer discussed Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)’s management, and his remarks make his surprise at the earnings understandable:
“Okay, I’m into fitness, ‘fitness’ pizza in my mouth. I love Papa John’s. It’s fantastic. And I think that, you know, look, here’s the thing, the only problem with Papa John’s is that they changed the management. The really great guy went… from Papa John’s… went to Shake Shack, and you got Todd Penegor there, and Todd, he is a really good guy, but he was at Wendy’s before and I have watched what Shake Shack has done since, and I think that Shake Shack got the better end of the deal. It’s been really fabulous since Rob Lynch moved over there. So I’m going to have to say we have to wait and see. I like the pizza though very much, but I need to see how Todd does there. He’s new.”
2. Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 72
Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) is one of Cramer’s top social media stocks. The CNBC TV host believes the firm’s vast depository of user data will serve it well in today’s AI era, where firms are hungry for training data. Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT)’s shares have gained 35% year-to-date, primarily due to a 55% surge since late July. The stock rose after the firm’s second quarter revenue of $500 million and earnings per share of $0.45 beat analyst estimates of $426 million and $0.19 by a wide margin. Despite the share price gains, Cramer believes Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) is still undervalued:
“And then. . .I think Pinterest and Reddit are the two most undervalued companies, of the new companies, because they are being scraped and the scrapers are going to have to pay the piper. Pinterest, Reddit, they’re gonna pay the piper.”
Here are his earlier comments about Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT):
“Let me start with Reddit. I use Reddit pretty aggressively. It’s a terrific product. My wife uses it to sell… her mezcal brand because Reddit has an entire mezcal forum. So I like it. The advertiser likes it. That’s where I start. I then try to find out what other people… whether they feel like I do. Rob (Rob Pace, founder and CEO of HundredX) has told me that Reddit customers are planning to increase future use because people love crowdsourced information, seems to be able to be independent… Reddit demonstrates the increasing value of human intelligence, increasing value of human intelligence, I like that. In fact, he’s betting that as the future of search evolves from finding things to figuring things out, Reddit could be a major winner. Now you take your own use as I have… You then take data from HundredX to see if your experience lines up with reality. Only then you go to the web, you look up articles, check out websites to see things like the piece we ran on Reddit a couple of days ago, which said it was great to buy. Wow, that’s been terrific. To me, that produced a terrific, really special reason to buy the stock, and I’m sticking with it. I just wish I had bought it for my Charitable Trust when I first got the hunch, but I hadn’t done the homework. Can’t jump that.”
1. Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q1 2025: 86
Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS), a social media platform focused primarily on visual arts, idea generation, and eCommerce, is one of Cramer’s top social media stocks. The CNBC TV host believes that the firm has a unique business model that places it in a key position for AI scraping. Not only does he believe that Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) allows users to learn from each other, but he also believes the firm is undervalued:
“And then. . .I think Pinterest and Reddit are the two most undervalued companies, of the new companies, because they are being scraped and the scrapers are going to have to pay the piper. Pinterest, Reddit, they’re gonna pay the piper.”
Cramer previously discussed Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)’s business and undervaluation in detail. Here is what he said:
“I’m always looking for companies like Square now Block, that could take off even if it doesn’t get added to the S&P. And there are a couple of notes about Pinterest. I think that Bill Ready has done a remarkable job as CEO. Pinterest is going to be a part of what’s scraped by these, the five big ones. And we should highlight the five big ones, they do matter. And I just think Pinterest is a place where people go to learn, and people go to have crafts. It’s an underrated site. It’s 25 billion. It could be 50 billion.
“[On Morgan Stanley saying there growth acceleration is not being priced] Look, I think this is a remarkable site. Because, if you want to take trip, if you want to learn to paint, if you want to learn to cook, if you want to cook something really special, it’s where you go. It’s a very useful site. And it seems to me to be a, a very much of a site that you’re not going to see the stuff that we just talked about.”
While we acknowledge the potential of PINS 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 PINS and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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