On Monday’s episode of Mad Money, host Jim Cramer made it clear that he believes artificial intelligence remains a powerful force in the business world, especially among the largest technology companies.
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s Game Plan: 12 Stocks in Focus and Jim Cramer Talked About These 13 Stocks.
Cramer directly addressed the fatigue some investors may be feeling toward AI and acknowledged the skepticism while insisting it is premature and misguided. He mentioned, “But we can’t afford to get sick of the artificial intelligence story.” According to him, despite some in the market reacting as if the excitement around AI has passed, the reality is quite the opposite.
He argued that the major tech companies are deeply immersed in AI development and deployment. Cramer was critical of those dismissing AI as hype and mentioned that such an attitude could result in missing out on significant opportunities.
“The bottom line: The four biggest names in tech, and all businesses honestly, are wrestling with AI every day. And you want to be bored with it? You want your eyes to roll? Oh, be my guest. But I think you’ll miss on a lot of gains that will be taken by those who refuse to write off this technology as some sort of scam, including the big four that I just tapped tonight.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 14 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on May 27. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the first quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 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).
Jim Cramer Put These 14 Stocks Under the Microscope
14. Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23
A caller asked what Cramer thinks of Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO) during the lightning round. Here’s what Mad Money’s host had to say:
“Oklo’s got technology, it no doubt has technology. It is literally 5 years behind GE Vernova, 5 years, and I think that I don’t have the time for that when I can just go buy GE Vernova.”
Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) designs and builds nuclear fission power plants aimed at producing dependable energy on a commercial scale. The company also works on recycling spent nuclear fuel through specialized services connected to its core operations. Earlier in April, Cramer said:
“Well, I’m a great believer in nuclear power, but that does not make me want to own any of the stocks that are involved in it right now, given the fact that it’s going to be so many years before we actually build it. So I’m gonna have to say [sell, sell, sell] Oklo.”
13. Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23
During the lightning round, a caller asked about Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU), and Cramer remarked:
“What a horse. Okay, nuclear power… people just believe nuclear power, no matter what. Now, I think that’s fine, but I suggest that you calm down and you buy GE Vernova, which has been such an up stock and also has nat gas.”
Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) provides nuclear fuel and related services as it offers enriched uranium products and technical support to customers in the nuclear power sector. On May 28, William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer began coverage of LEU with an Outperform rating and no stated price target.
As per the analyst, Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) is the only uranium enricher under U.S. ownership, which gives it an edge in both technology and national security. The firm mentioned that the company will gain a large share of the market as it shifts from acting as a broker of foreign nuclear fuel to becoming a direct producer and supplier of low-enriched and high-assay low-enriched uranium for the U.S. nuclear industry. William Blair believes the stock deserves a place in any energy-focused investment portfolio.
12. IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 28
A caller asked if IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) stock’s current valuation makes sense given that the company has acquired government contracts. In response, Cramer said:
“Oh my god, it’s so high and it’s losing so much money, but it’s quantum. If I offer you a considered explanation of why I think that stock’s too expensive, most people ignore it, so all I’m going to say is it’s too speculative for me. I don’t know what else to say.”
IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) develops and sells access to quantum computers. Additionally, the company provides related hardware and cloud services, and works on technologies like quantum networking, detection systems, and algorithm development. In January, appearing on Squawk on the Street, Cramer commented:
“But frankly, I’m going to use the word chimerical, in the sense that these companies, none of these companies, have much in terms of revenue. Except for IONQ.”
11. Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36
Whilst Cramer acknowledged that Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN) has performed well, he highlighted that the stock’s high valuation has gotten “harder to justify.”
“Lately, we’ve been hearing [that]… skilled trades will be growing a lot versus jobs that require a standard college education. Stride is like an arms dealer for the people who want those positions. I love that business right now… The bull case for this one, simple. Public school satisfaction has been dwindling for years, and parents are increasingly willing to enroll their kids in entirely online schools if it means they can get a decent education… It’s hard to deny the momentum that Stride’s seeing in their business. Now, after opening up shop 25 years ago, the company has since expanded their schools and service offerings to 91 schools in 31 states in their general education market and 56 schools or programs in 27 states in their career learning market. Not bad…
Stride reported the latest in a string of beat and raise quarters, which is part of the reason why this stock is the 18th best performer in the S&P 1500 year to date and the eighth best performing in the S&P 600 with a return of over 47%… So, where do I come down on this one? Look, even though Stride’s seen some strong momentum lately, there’s still a good amount of competition in this space…
The scale of the opportunity here might be enormous enough that there’s room for everybody. However, given that the stock’s already run more than 47% for the year, you know what I think the valuation, it’s gotten harder to justify [don’t buy, don’t buy, don’t buy]. Plus, all the competition in the space makes it harder to decipher what advantage Stride has over its rivals. Make it difficult to recommend it for a big run. I’m not going to do that.”
Stride (NYSE:LRN) provides online education tools, courses, and services that support personalized learning from kindergarten through high school. The company also offers career-focused programs and operates private schools.
10. ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36
Cramer said that he is avoiding ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) stock despite its strengths because Apollo Global Management’s large and ongoing share sell-offs can become a major risk.
“The majority of ADT’s revenue comes from their monitoring and related services, which primarily consists of recurring revenue that’s generated from providing monthly monitoring and other services. I always like to see some recurring revenue… Look, ADT’s done a good job of coming up with new products that make customers’ homes more secure, including a partnership with Google on its Nest devices… Despite what seemed like a solid quarter in April and the progress the company’s making in new offerings, there is something not great here. A major overhang that prevents me from even considering ADT right now. See, Apollo Management, the private equity firm, is the company’s largest shareholder, nearly 30% ownership stake….
Now I’ve got nothing against private equity firms. Some of them are real great, including Apollo, they’ve done some good things, but it is always the threat when you have a private equity firm as a top shareholder because in theory they could start dumping the position at any moment…
Apollo’s been selling down its stake aggressively as of late. That includes a 50 million share sale earlier this month, which came just a couple of months after Apollo sold over 80 million shares in secondary offering in March, and the even worse news, Apollo still has roughly 229 million shares left. Okay, that’s potentially an artillery barrage of selling… That’s why I’m not even going to entertain the thought of ADT right now.”
ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) provides security and smart home products, including alarms, cameras, automation systems, and personal emergency response services. The company’s offerings enable customers to monitor and control their homes remotely through different devices and apps.
9. CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36
A caller inquired if CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) stock is still a buy. In response, Cramer said:
“No… we can’t buy it here. I said that this morning at our morning meeting, that I do for club members, and I said… you know, I think the world of the stock. I recommended it at 40. That looks like a pretty darn good call. Ben Stoto, who’s my chief scientist, and I, we got together and said this one is for real and you should buy it, but up here, up 210% since its IPO, I got to check my enthusiasm. Notice I didn’t say curb, check.”
CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) provides a cloud platform designed to power enterprise compute workloads, especially for generative AI applications. The company offers high-performance computing resources, infrastructure tools, and services for tasks like AI training, rendering, and model optimization.
8. V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43
While discussing V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC), Cramer said that he needs to see some positive sales growth before he is bullish on the company again.
“The apparel and footwear retailers, they’ve struggled…. Why don’t we start with V.F. Corp?…. For the past couple of years, I’ve been rooting for V.F. Corp ever since they brought in Bracken Darrell from Logitech to take over CEO. I figured he could eventually turn things around, and eventually is the operative word here, and around this time last year, V.F. Corp started to get back on track…
So back to the operative question, can these fallen retailers, and specifically in this case. V.F. Corp, make a comeback? The short answer for V.F. Corp is not quite yet. I think we’re still in a holding pattern with this one despite the fact that the stock had a nice gain amid today’s market rally, climbed nearly 13%… My view, the company absolutely has taken out some big costs as margins have improved meaningfully over the past year… I know that the stock might start moving higher before the turnaround actually arrives. That happened once, right? But in a perfect world, I’d like to see sales growth turn positive before I can declare V.F. Corp officially back, so to speak…
Here’s the bottom line: We saw in the back half of last year just how quickly the stock can climb higher when the news flow gets even just a bit better. But we’ve also been reminded this year about how quickly V.F. Corp can stumble when things get tougher. And at this point, after such a prolonged period of underperformance, I myself do not feel comfortable sticking my neck out before I see some real signs of improvement, especially at Vans.”
V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) designs and sells branded apparel, footwear, and accessories for all ages. The company features famous brands like The North Face, Vans, and Timberland.
7. Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
Answering a caller’s query about Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA), Cramer stated:
“That stock is a rocket ship. Again, very very speculative, because it loses a lot of money. Does have a couple things in the pipe that people like, but also has a huge amount of insider selling, frankly.”
Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) is a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for respiratory diseases with limited treatment options. The company’s lead therapy, Ohtuvayre, is designed to provide bronchodilation and anti-inflammatory benefits for conditions like COPD, cystic fibrosis, and asthma. Buckley Capital Advisors stated the following regarding Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) has developed a product called ensifentrine (Ohtuvayre), a bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory agent for maintenance treatment of COPD. COPD, more commonly known as smoker’s lung, is caused by pollution or smoking. Diagnosis of COPD lowers life expectancy by approximately 6 years. Symptoms of COPD are shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, and sputum. COPD affects approximately 400 million people worldwide, with 8.6m people treated in the United States.
We began following VRNA after the science had been de-risked in late 2022. We believed at the time that VRNA had a novel mechanism in COPD, a disease with no incremental new therapy in the last 20 years. We and others believed VRNA would likely be bought out, which ultimately did not happen. VRNA thus became an “anti-merger arbitrage” special situation stock, with high turnover in its shareholder base: In the lead-up to Verona’s FDA approval (PDUFA) date in June 2024, the stock declined sharply from the low $20s to $12.”
6. Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 55
When a caller asked for Cramer’s opinion on Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO), he replied:
“You know I’d rather be in the Phillips, the PSX. See, that’s kind of a battle going on there, you know, and we can see what happens. I think Valero’s already had too much of a run.”
Valero (NYSE:VLO) produces and markets petroleum-based and low-carbon transportation fuels, petrochemicals, renewable diesel, and ethanol. It distributes its products under various brand names. The company also supplies co-products like distillers grains and corn oil for animal feed.
On May 23, BofA increased its price target on VLO from $121 to $143 and maintained a Neutral rating. The firm updated its estimates for refiners and mentioned that its 2025 and 2026 EBITDA forecasts remain below consensus. It noted that price targets for Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Occidental saw minimal changes. However, the firm raised targets for refiners since the firm’s outlook no longer assumes a severe recession.
5. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
A caller mentioned that they have a couple of hundred shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) and asked for Cramer’s advice. He replied:
“Here’s my feeling, all right, David Zaslav runs Warner Brothers Discovery. He’s done the first thing absolutely right. He has made that balance sheet to be palatable. Now he just has to break out of the hell that is Linear and be thinking about all the new exciting things that could be done. I want you to stay long on those couple hundred. I would even be tempted, dare I say…. I would actually buy the stock. That’s right. I would buy Warner Brothers Discovery. I’m willing to stick my head out and see what happens.”
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) is a media and entertainment company that creates, distributes, and licenses a wide range of content across film, television, streaming, and gaming. The company manages a diverse portfolio of well-known brands and franchises, including streaming services, linear networks, and digital distribution.
4. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 104
During the episode, Cramer showed optimism toward Tesla, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) humanoid robot business as he said:
“Despite all the negative publicity and the horrendous sales versus the competitors, it’s done nothing to hurt the stock of Tesla. In fact, as Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas… predicted, the fading of Tesla’s car sales has actually brought to the fore all of Musk’s other big initiatives… I’m talking about self-driving specifically in Austin, Texas, next month at this time.
But most importantly, I’m talking about Optimus, his humanoid robot project that will soon be a business, and when it launches, it will be a fabulous one. Musk’s full self-driving initiatives run on AI, specifically neural networks, which give you more adaptive human-like behavior than the other systems. And that’s why investors can ignore Tesla’s car sales.
They believe Musk got the best-selling self-driving technology, and that’s what’s going to matter. That’s why the stock won’t quit. And then if President Trump gets involved, it won’t be pushing for cars to go from Austin to Houston. It’ll be having Tesla self-driving all over the interstate highway system, which, last I looked, is still federal. Tesla, the tech company, is much more powerful than Tesla the automaker, and that’s why the stock finished up nearly 7% today.”
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) develops and sells electric vehicles along with energy generation and storage solutions. The company also provides solar and battery systems for residential and commercial use.
3. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 159
While discussing Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Cramer praised the company’s CEO as he said:
“… The endless carping about how Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is missing the AI boat, and therefore Apple’s phones are falling behind, not something you felt if you bought the stock Friday, as the stock rallied five bucks today to get back over 200. Now I’ve been following this Tim Cook story for, I dunno, how about a decade now? How about over a decade?
People have said Apple’s falling behind since the iPhone 5…. I followed it through four watches, four sets of AirPods, all sorts of Macs. I recognize that Siri can be obtuse… Every company that’s spending hundreds of billions of dollars buying NVIDIA chips, scraping data, trying to understand it, and then sell it to you lacks one thing: customers, the 1.5 billion people who use an iPhone. Tim’s got the divisions, they just have to spend… Tim Cook will have the best, they’ll have the best AI. Cook’s North Star is client satisfaction, and over time, that strategy is a proven winner.”
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) develops and sells consumer electronics, software, and digital services, including iPhones, Macs, iPads, wearables, and subscription platforms like Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Pay. The company also offers cloud storage, app distribution, and customer support.
2. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 212
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was mentioned during the episode, and here is what Mad Money’s host had to say.
“In the last few quarters, we’ve seen an element of cynicism about NVIDIA’s business that is truly pathetic, almost heartbreaking… We’re thinking way too small about this amazing company, somehow being trapped by the possibility of weaker revenue numbers. Weaker revenue numbers? This is a new industrial revolution, people. Selling NVIDIA here, it’s like selling the steam engine 200 years ago, before it really got rolling. What matters is that NVIDIA has expanded its work to tie up with other industries like Tesla and self-driving. NVIDIA’s doing business with a plethora of wealthy countries that need the latest and the greatest…
Look, with this quarter, I bet we’ll see NVIDIA’s CEO, Jensen Huang, talking about the advantage he has over anyone attempting to make an accelerated chip. He’s got the software, for heaven’s sake. Specifically, I’m thinking of NVIDIA’s Omniverse for advanced simulations to build things in record time with far fewer mistakes. We’re talking building ships, factories using the Digital Twin, the largest market in the world. Or how about NVIDIA GR00T, a customizable foundational model for humanoid reasoning that was just talked about at COMPUTEX in Taiwan last week. That’s NVIDIA software, not NVIDIA hardware… I mean, why isn’t anyone talking about this?”
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) designs advanced computing technologies and software that power graphics, AI, and networking solutions. The company’s products support applications in gaming, data centers, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and enterprise AI.
1. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 273
When a caller expressed that they are considering starting a position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) stock, Cramer stated:
“I like your thinking very much. I think Meta’s having a great quarter. I also think that they are without a doubt the best advertising bet. What happens if he actually starts, Mark Zuckerberg starts to want to, let’s say, monetize WhatsApp? Do you know how much that darn thing’s worth? I think you got horse sense. Good level to buy.”
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) develops technologies and applications that help individuals connect and communicate across various digital devices, including social media apps and immersive virtual and augmented reality experiences. On May 1, during an episode of Mad Money, Cramer discussed the company as he said:
“[Talking about the market’s gains] Led by two of these mega caps, the Microsoft and Meta platforms, we’re reminded of how the mega caps got so big to begin with. It’s their scale, their smarts, their moats, their balance sheets, and their sensational products. […] Meta Platforms jumped $23, 4.23%. Spectacular gains, tremendous outlooks, tremendous! […]
As good as Microsoft was, believe it or not, I thought Meta was better. Mark Zuckerberg has cracked the code in terms of trying to make digital advertising work for anyone, any company. […] He’s so confident when I heard that I wanted to start a new business just to see if it worked.
Even better, I could see where any company that advertises on television would be best off just giving a huge chunk of those ad dollars to Meta, not linear TV because it’s true. The performance is clearly better. […] because spending patterns and brand loyalty start with the teens.
A teen lead can be worth 10 times the lead of an older person. If you want to reach teens, you got to go to Zuckerberg. You got to go to Meta. So, if you’re a big consumer package goods company, you can simply give all your money to Meta, fire most your internal ad people, drop your expensive ad agency, and save yourself a fortune. […] It was just incredible. Not only that, but Zuckerberg talked about monetizing the asset that’s potentially the best thing Meta owns. WhatsApp! More than three billion people use this as a principal communications platform and it costs nothing. That could change, and it could give the company a gigantic new revenue stream. This was an all systems go quarter.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that 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 META and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
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