We recently published an article titled Jim Cramer Listed 20 Best Performing Stocks of the Last 20 Years. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other stocks.
Discussing two decades of Mad Money, Jim Cramer took a moment to highlight the top-performing stocks since the show’s debut.
“This week we’re celebrating the show’s 20th anniversary, a little over a month late, but better late than never. Given that Mad Money’s been on the air for more than two decades now, I think it’s worth going over the best-performing stocks during that period.”
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He pointed out that while the broader markets have posted impressive long-term gains, the Dow rising 272%, the S&P 500 climbing 358%, and the Nasdaq 100 soaring 1,182%, the show’s philosophy has not changed. He said, “I created this show because I believe you can beat the averages by doing the homework and picking great individual stocks.” Two decades later, he feels even more strongly about that belief. According to him, investing in high-quality companies with long-term potential can outperform those indices.
“So, looking at every US-listed stock with a market cap of at least $1 billion and putting aside everything that came public after March 14th, 2005, the day of our first show, what are the biggest winners since Mad Money first went on the air? I’ve gotta tell you what, I love this list.”
He also said the results were unexpected and would surprise viewers. Cramer framed these companies as real-world evidence of the show’s long-held thesis, that investors who commit to studying individual businesses and hold onto strong performers over time can generate significant returns. Cramer noted that since Mad Money’s launch in March 2005, “These winners really represent the core thesis of the show that you can make a killing by picking the right stocks, doing the homework and sticking with the great ones.”
“Bottom line: When you look at the 10 best-performing stocks of the last 20-odd years, so many of these were gettable if you simply believed in your ability to pick stocks and stuck with them for the long haul.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 20 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episodes of Mad Money aired on April 28 and 29. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock 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).
A wide view of an Apple store, showing the range of products the company offers.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
Calling Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) gains “gettable”, Cramer stated:
“Fourth place: Apple, up more than 14,500% since we went on air. The great thing about Apple is these gains were totally gettable, come on. This was the most obvious story in America for years and years. It’s much harder to own here because it’s under fire from the White House for sourcing most of its merchandise from China for the cell phones. But it’s still a terrific illustration of the fact that you don’t need to be a genius to pick winners in this business.”
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) manufactures and sells products such as smartphones, computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. The company also runs digital platforms, paid subscriptions like Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade, and services including the App Store and Apple Pay.
Overall AAPL ranks 4th on our list of the best performing stocks of the last 20 years according to Jim Cramer. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL 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 timeframe. 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 AAPL 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.
