Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, said on Monday that dealmaking is likely to be a major driver for the stock market next year.
“The setup’s a great one… The chief pillar? Takeovers and acquisitions. They’re going to be an extraordinary force for the bulls in 2026…. They won’t necessarily move the averages in a visible way like today, when we got some real takeover news, but it didn’t play an obvious role… Let me tell you why these transactions are so important to you and why you must stay in the market to profit from them. First, the stock market is fundamentally about supply and demand. If you increase the number of shares, then the averages may have trouble advancing. Periods of great stock issuance can lead to uncomfortable moments.”
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Cramer added that when there is not enough money flowing in to absorb all that extra supply, the result can be a market decline that turns into a bear market. However, he explained that takeovers help offset the constant flow of new shares. He said the balance is especially important now because he expects a wave of new issuance, including a few potential blockbuster deals, and he believes that much new supply could be difficult for the market to absorb on its own. He added that it helps when public companies continue to buy private businesses owned by private equity firms, and said, “That’s good.”
“The bottom line: These are all fantastic templates. Two acquirers with stocks that go higher, a buyer confident that it can merge the number three with the number one in the same industry, and a company that can’t get AI right without hurting a quarter or so… so why be publicly traded at all? And then finally, there’s Stanley Black & Decker[‘s] aerospace business, turned out to be worth more than anyone expected. New patterns, new methods, new money. What’s not to like?”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 11 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on December 22. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the third quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 978 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 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
Jim Cramer Shared His Takes on These 11 Stocks
11. fuboTV Inc. (NYSE:FUBO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 11
fuboTV Inc. (NYSE:FUBO) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer shared his take on. When a caller asked about the stock during the lightning round, Cramer said, “Fubo’s had a big run, and I don’t think there’s any need to pile on at this price. I think it’s just too high.”
fuboTV Inc. (NYSE:FUBO) provides a live TV streaming service focused on sports, news, and entertainment. The service is accessible through streaming devices, SmartTVs, and mobile platforms. During the November 20 episode, a caller asked whether the company’s stock was speculative. The Mad Money host said, “I don’t know. Let’s do Netflix instead of Fubo. I just, I like Netflix more, just saying.”
10. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer shared his take on. Answering a caller’s query about the stock, Cramer remarked:
“No, no we’re not…. No, oil and gas… it’s just a flat-out no on this show. We are just not, we’ve not recommended those stocks for a very long time, and we’re not going to do it this year.”
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) helps oil and gas companies drill and finish wells. The company provides hands-on drilling work and on-site support services. In addition, it offers hydraulic fracturing, completion help, power and logistics solutions, and supplies drill bits and other oilfield tools. On December 9, Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) reported an average of 93 drilling rigs operating during November 2025 in the United States. For the two months ended November 30, 2025, the average count was 94 rigs earning revenue under drilling contracts.
