We recently published a list of Jim Cramer’s Thoughts on These 13 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discussed.
On Thursday’s episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer voiced his exasperation over the skepticism surrounding AI infrastructure as he stated that it was never backed by solid evidence to begin with. He expressed frustration that so many investors had been misled into believing that the AI infrastructure boom had somehow stalled.
“Earnings season, it’s a pain in the neck. It’s convoluted stuff coming at you from all different directions. Loss of sleep, just a total time suck and I love it. I love it because it clears things up. The false narratives are exposed. You can go back to playing offense, not defense. And few false narratives have gone as far as this story about the end of data center spending.”
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According to Cramer, the story took root back on January 27th, “DeepSeek Monday,” when a Chinese company said that they developed a generative AI model requiring significantly fewer computing resources than industry leaders. He added:
“All the previously red-hot AI infrastructure stocks were immediately crushed. You know what? They never really recovered.”
Cramer questioned how the doubt could have been spread so easily. He pointed to the media’s role and wondered whether reporters asked the right questions or enough questions at all. He criticized the consistent spotlight given to bearish voices, many of whom had clear financial motives. As per Cramer, some of these commentators failed to disclose that they had short positions across the AI sector. He accused them of putting profits ahead of facts as he noted that too much money was at stake for them to let reality interfere with their narrative. He added:
“I know it may be hard to believe that huge companies with tens of billions of dollars to spend actually keep funneling that money to the data center suppliers… but that’s exactly what’s happening, and I think it’s not too late to own a lot of the members of the complex. Even as I expect that if we wait a few days, the bears will be out again… They just can’t stop trying to make money at your expense.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 13 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episodes of Mad Money aired on April 30 and May 1. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the fourth quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 27
During the lightning round, a caller asked about ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS), and Cramer said:
“I actually like it. I agree with you. It’s one of the fintech stocks that’s been proving to be very solid and, and I like it. I should actually spend, we should have them on the show. They’re doing very well.”
ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) provides digital and analytics-driven services using AI, automation, and software platforms to support operations in areas like customer service, healthcare, finance, and supply chain management.
As per ExlService’s (NASDAQ:EXLS) 2025 guidance, revenue is expected to range from $2.035 billion to $2.065 billion, which is a growth of 11% to 12% on a reported basis, and 11% to 13% on a constant currency basis from 2024. The company also reported that adjusted diluted EPS are projected to be between $1.83 and $1.89, an increase of 11% to 14% from the prior year. The guidance is based on current exchange rate assumptions.
Overall, EXLS ranks 10th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of EXLS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that 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 EXLS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.