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 Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) 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.”
READ ALSO Jim Cramer Recently Discussed These 9 Stocks and Jim Cramer Commented on These 8 Stocks Recently
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 medical team performing minimally invasive surgery with a da Vinci Surgical System.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95
Cramer called Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) “as relevant as ever” as he commented:
“Eighth best performer of the Mad Money era is Intuitive Surgical, ISRG, the creator of the minimally invasive Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System. This is another name that we found early on. I first interviewed someone from the company back in July of 2005 when the stock was trading at a split-adjusted price of $5 and change.
Since then, we’ve watched this Intuitive Robotic Surgical system… spread across the globe, constantly improving along the way and adding more types of procedures that it could do. The company’s now [a] $184 billion behemoth, and this stock has given you more than 10,000% gain since the show got started. I think this is as relevant as ever. Company just reported an excellent set of numbers last Tuesday. I’m proud to be a huge supporter of this.”
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) develops and sells tools used in minimally invasive procedures. The company’s products include the da Vinci Surgical System, the Ion endoluminal platform, surgical instruments, training, and support services.
Overall ISRG ranks 8th on our list of the best performing stocks of the last 20 years according to Jim Cramer. While we acknowledge the potential of ISRG 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 ISRG 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.
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