In one of his latest appearances on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer maintained his view that President Trump and his administration will be quite pro-business. Commenting on Trump’s statements at his inauguration, Cramer started out by saying, “I think that, regardless, it’s a very pro-business regime.” He explained that his view came despite “a story that the FT just ran about Donald Trump threatening tax wherever US multinationals [are].” According to Cramer, the story “is the only thing I have heard so far that just tells me, you could one day raise numbers. I think it’s important, David because we live in a raise numbers, decline numbers world.”

As to Trump’s policies, one shift that caught his attention was the President’s aim to invigorate the American oil production industry. “Well look I think that the only substantive stuff from the market is that prices for oil are going to go down ’cause he’s going to get us to pump more,” Cramer outlined. “And I think that the discipline of the oil companies versus what he said, could be, that’s front and center,” he added. However, Cramer cautioned that “[t]he oil companies are not into drilling all over the place. They realize that their stocks had kind of a housing moment because they held back. And now they’re being told, drill. I don’t think they’ll respond to that. I just don’t think that they will.”

Continuing his remarks on the US energy industry, he shifted his focus to the gas sector. Cramer believes that America needs “more pipe[line], we’re out of pipe[line] to send the natural gas from the Permian.” He outlined that President Trump “basically undid that January pause about building new facilities for natural gas.” Cramer believes that the move was necessary “[b]ecause a lot of projects, longer-term projects got halted. They will come back. But we don’t have a lot of what’s known as trains. We don’t have enough car loads to be able to ship as much natural gas . . . it just looks like, that you can’t ship more, as long as you don’t have a lot of, facilities. And we don’t have enough facilities to ship. And that does matter.”

However, one thing from Trump’s inauguration speech that surprised Cramer was his take on China. “So far China kind of got off the hook,” he believes. This apparently relaxed attitude towards China also might have led to markets performing well, with Cramer stating, “[a]nd I think that’s another reason that people are pretty buoyant.”

Another aspect of the new administration that has caught investor and public attention is the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. Headed by Elon Musk, the department aims to reduce purported wasteful spending in the US government. Cramer believes DOGE has its work cut out. According to him, “[r]ight now DOGE sounds like, we’re going to put some guys in. They’re going to make a difference. It doesn’t work like that. I mean, well the deep swamp, well, it’s the deep state. But you know what I’m saying is that the swamp is hard to clear with just four guys.”

However, the CNBC host does believe that the tech sector could modernize the government’s operations. “It could be. I mean take a look at all the hacking. When you speak to cybersecurity people, they say, look the technology is many years old. They didn’t keep up,” he shared.

He also commented on President Biden and how he stood out when it came to wealth. “When the previous president got it . . . .there was no billionaires for Biden. He was not into that,” Cramer shared. According to him, “[h]e [Biden] wasn’t into hundred millionaires. . . . he didn’t like em. He didn’t like them, he felt that they represented the wrong stream of thought in America. That’s just what he did. He was also very proud of how poor he was. Which is a very, which is anomalous. We do not have a lot of people who are proud of being poor!”

Shifting gears, Cramer then commented on the ongoing saga of TikTok’s ban in the US. While the application is still banned, it has been granted a temporary reprieve by the President as he attempts to reach a solution that balances national security with a popular software application. Cramer shared that the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Protecting Americans Against Foreign Adversaries Act (PAFCA) was quite unique. According to him, “[t]hey handed down, the only time I’ve ever seen it, one hundred percent. One hundred percent agreement. Everybody.” He added according to the court’s opinion, it was clear that “there is a huge national security risk.”

When co-host David Faber countered and claimed that the court had simply agreed with Congress, Cramer replied, “Right, but I’m saying Bill [Bill Ford of General Atlantic] would be contrary to the, one of the few times that the court was unanimous about national security risk.” Cramer backed his argument by outlining the kinds of user data that TikTok collects. He explained, “[b]y the way, if you look at what they get from you when you sign up.  Now, I’m not close to Joe Rogan. I listened to Mark Zuckerberg talk about hunting with Joe, but Joe did read, he did read down what you give them when you sign up. And you give them, everything. Everything. They have access to everything.”

He also commented on whether there’s a backdoor for access despite the data being hosted in the US. “There is! The Supreme Court says it’s not even a backdoor. Supreme Court basically says it’s a front door,” Cramer believes. He added, “I think they went a step further. I think that Chief Justice Roberts basically just said this is a Manchurian candidate. He didn’t use that term, but he meant it.”

Our Methodology

To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down all the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on January 21st.

For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds invest in? 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).

6. FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 41

FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) is a small company that leases aircraft and aircraft engines. It also has an aircraft engine repair and refurbishment business. Its shares have faced quite a bit of turmoil this year since they are down by a stunning 42% year-to-date. At the core of FTAI Aviation Ltd.’s (NASDAQ:FTAI) troubles is a short seller report that alleges the firm was misleading investors by mis-declaring engine sales revenue as repair and overhaul revenue. The real bloodbath for the stock came when FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) announced that it would delay filing its annual report as it investigated the claims. Cramer’s comments about the stock revolved around its cash flow:

“[on shares falling and short seller report] Their cash flow is not too great there. Cash flow, not great.”

5. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 64

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is one of the largest car manufacturers in America. Its shares closed 2024 51% higher as the firm consistently beat estimates for its quarterly earnings. Despite a broader slowdown in US consumer spending, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)’s gas-powered SUVs performed well and led it to raise the low end of its annual profit guidance to $14 billion from $13 billion during its third-quarter earnings report. Cramer’s comments about the firm revolved around a Deutsche Bank report that upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold on the back of expected strength in its Q4 results:

“GM caught an upgrade today. I found that quizzical given that we have no idea what their earnings are going to be.”

4. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 81

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is one of the biggest healthcare companies in the world. Cramer has sporadically mentioned the stock in 2025. Some of his latest remarks surrounded Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s intent to acquire neuropsychiatric medicine manufacturer Intra-Cellular for a $14.1 billion price tag. Cramer believes that Bristol-Myers’ medicines, which are similar to Intra-Cellular, merit a deeper look into the latter’s portfolio. This time around, he commented on Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s decision to spin off its consumer health business Kenvue:

“You know some of these guys spin off these things, and like, well, no, I mean I think JNJ, Kenvue, I liked Kenvue. They think it kept the margins. . . “

3. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 82

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) is one of the largest industrial and consumer products providers in America. The firm makes and sells products like home cleaning items, bonding products, and abrasives. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM)’s shares are up by 13% year-to-date as the firm’s efforts to reduce costs yielded results in its fourth quarter when operating expenses fell by 44% annually. The firm also guided 2025 sales growth to range between 2% to 3%, which was substantially higher than analysts’ expectations of 1.6%. Cramer commented on 3M Company (NYSE:MMM)’s latest earnings and current valuation:

“[On earnings] Electric. Electric. And Bill Browns there, he used to be at L3 Harris, he’s a guy who really kind of takes no [inaudible] he really gets it right. The thing that I was just shocked at, adjusted gross margins up two hundred and eighty basis points. Sales were terrific. Organic growth 1.2, but the guidance is for two to three percent. Lots of free cash flow. Could do seven sixty to seven ninety. So suddenly the stock is being back to a growth stock.”

“Yes! It used to be a great growth stock. It could be back, could be back. And one of these [inaudible] that’s not important anymore David, groundwater.”

“Right, PFAS. PFAS is not really a factor in what we’re looking at. The restructuring is almost complete, completed. I don’t know, free cash flow $4.9 billion, this is a buy. Even here, it’s a buy. This is a new company. It’s very much like the old growth company. I think analysts are going to clamor to upgrade because they’re no longer worried about groundwater. And they see a path that is faster than it was.”

“Remember they spun-off Solventum. I wish they hadn’t cause I really liked that healthcare business.”

2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 158

Consumer electronics and technology giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is another stock that’s regularly on Cramer’s radar. Most of his remarks this year have revolved around social media CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s remarks that innovation had ended at Apple since Steve Jobs’ death and around the upcoming earnings. Cramer disagrees with Zuckerberg’s assessment, and his latest comments about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) tied his beliefs about the upcoming earnings with recent analyst coverage:

“Apple’s gonna miss big. I mean I can’t believe that anyone is still around who thinks that they haven’t guided down enough. I mean the new one obviously is that the quarter’s going to be bad but wait till you see the guidance. It’s really. . . .I mean AI’s not working and everyone is missing the fact China orders have plummeted, everyone, I mean you could go on the subway, like David does, and ask the average person how’s Apple gonna do. And they’re gonna say it. They’re gonna miss. You know if everybody thinks something is a surprise, it’s not a surprise! Okay. They’re acting like it’s, they’re acting like it’s the Commanders.

“[On Jefferies’ note] I think that given them a chance to, if this thing goes to two hundred, one and ninety, to upgrade. I think he’s got the flexibility. A lot of people do it. Look, I’m adamant that this is not a good quarter. I’m adamant that the next quarter is going to be guided down. I’m also adamant that if you bought it or held it through many of these cycles, you made a lot of money. And I don’t want people at home to get out and then get back in because that’s failed as a strategy for Apple endlessly.

“[on consumers not interested in Apple’s AI innovation] Well all I can tell you is that, Apple doesn’t have to pay for its AI. And that’s what people should be thinking about. Their gross margins could be fabulous on AI. By the way, it isn’t like Apple comes out with anything that is absolutely perfect when it starts. Vision Pro. They lowered the price. . . .I know they’re not supposed to issue anything that isn’t perfect. But AI is controlled by another company and they’re using their AI.”

1. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 193

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is another one of Cramer’s favorite stocks. He has remained optimistic about the firm’s AI prospects and its markets throughout 2025. Cramer’s optimism is despite the fact that NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s shares are up by a modest 1.82% year-to-date. The tepid investor interest has come on the back of export control rules during the Biden administration, which limited global sales of its AI GPUs and investor worries about the Blackwell supply chain. Cramer’s latest comments about NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) briefly mentioned the purported Blackwell woes and CEO Jensen Huang’s belief in AI:

“You know Jensen Huang, there I go, has said over and over again, anything we can do, they can do better. Okay, you just gotta get into that. And by the way Blackwell just an air pocket.”

NVDA is a stock Jim Cramer recently talked about. While we acknowledge the potential of NVDA 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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVDA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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