Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, said on Tuesday that, given the tight memory market, investors should focus on semiconductor capital equipment plays.
It really doesn’t take much to derail these commodity chip makers. Maybe their Korean competitors, like Samsung [and] SK Hynix, will expand their production capacity without our knowledge. Maybe the hyperscalers look at the sky-high prices of memory and data storage products and decide it’s time to dial back their data center investments. Possibility.
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Cramer emphasized that even a minor disturbance can severely damage these stocks, and added that he has watched such a scenario play out many times before. He said that given how far the shares have already climbed, investors who do not already own them are likely arriving too late. He then talked about a less risky way to stay exposed to the same trend. While he stressed that nothing in this space is truly safe, he called semiconductor capital equipment companies a safer alternative compared with the memory producers themselves.
Here’s the bottom line: If you want to play the memory and data storage without chasing stocks that have tripled or quadrupled in barely more than a year, I think the semiconductor capital equipment makers will be more durable winners here. I think Wall Street might not fully appreciate the long-term capacity expansions coming through the entire semiconductor ecosystem. While I don’t know how these companies will do when most of them report this week, that doesn’t interest me. I hope the stocks pull back because then you’ve got my blessing to buy them for the long haul, which is what we care about on Mad Money.
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 12 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on January 27. 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 Talked About These 12 Stocks and the Memory Shortage
12. Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 75
Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer highlighted the company’s $6 billion deal with Meta, as he stated:
If you use your powers of observation, if you exercise some curiosity, you can find some very, very good investments. And that’s what happened to the Charitable Trust today when we struck gold with Corning, which rallied more than 15% on news of a gigantic contract from Meta for $6 billion in fiber optic cables… Now, today in our morning meeting… Jeff Marks and I told club members, please do not sell, even though Corning reports tomorrow morning. Now, I suspect I have to tell you that after this run, a more than 15% gain in one day, almost anything they report could be a letdown. It wouldn’t shock me if the stock could go down. But why not take profits? Two reasons. One, if Meta wants $6 billion in fiber optic cables, what will Microsoft want, or Tesla, or Google, or Amazon?
And two, the actual NVIDIA chips that predominate in the data center are chock-full of copper. What if one day Corning can figure out how to make fiber for the inside of the chip? Wouldn’t shock me. Data centers would almost immediately burn less hot, and therefore, need less electricity for climate control. But I digress… If I’d only focused on iPhone glass at that Corning plant, I would’ve missed out on something that’s given my Charitable Trust a huge gain. So follow your curiosity, drill down on what you see. Sometimes, there’s a terrific investment idea hiding in plain sight.
Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) develops optical fiber, cables, and related hardware for telecommunications, and produces glass substrates for displays used in TVs, computers, and mobile devices. Moreover, it supplies specialty materials, emission control products, and laboratory equipment.
11. Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 93
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer highlighted the reason for the stock’s tremendous rally in 2025 and to date in 2026, as he remarked:
Again, as with Taiwan Semi, this isn’t about memory chips. In this case, it’s CPUs that Intel can’t make enough of. That means more business for the capital equipment makers, especially Lam Research. CPUs are their bread and butter. Lam’s also one of the leading providers of the type of equipment used to make memory chips. So they’ll be one of the first companies to benefit as the memory and data storage companies look to boost their productions, which I know they want to. That’s why this stock rallied 137% last year before tackling on another 39% gain in January. Now, some of these semiconductor capital equipment companies will be reporting earnings in the next few days… While I expect all these companies to report great numbers, the bar is now incredibly high, given how much their stocks have run. So I can’t say for sure how their stocks will react as they are what I say coming in hot.
But that brings me to a very smart analyst note from Lynx Equity… that came into my inbox. It was published this morning. The Lynx analyst says that a beat-and-raise result is already baked into Lam Research’s stock. I agree with that. It’s hard to argue with. But the analyst is still very bullish on Lam, and that’s because they expect much better numbers in 2027 than the rest of Wall Street’s looking for. I agree with that. If management gives a qualitative view of wafer fab equipment into 2027, and we hope that not everybody is starting to build out at once, the Lynx analyst argues that the stock could soar. Otherwise, he expects it to sell off because it’s up 39% over the past few weeks. If Lam Research does sell off, though, that may be the real opportunity. I would be a buyer. I believe in this group long term, and Lam is my personal favorite. It’s incredibly well-run.
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) develops equipment for depositing, etching, and cleaning semiconductor materials. It includes systems for tungsten and copper metallization, plasma and atomic-layer deposition, dielectric and conductor etch, and wafer cleaning.
10. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 81
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer noted the company’s “dismal guidance,” as he commented:
Finally, when Intel reported last Thursday, the stock got clobbered. Remember… it was down 17% on Friday, another 5% on Monday, before stabilizing today. That’s not because the numbers were bad. The quarterly results were actually quite good. Instead, Intel gave dismal guidance because they just don’t have the ability to meet the demand for their chips. From my own reporting, I’ve found out that Intel simply doesn’t have enough manufacturing equipment. It didn’t predict the strength of its own markets correctly.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) designs and manufactures processors, chips, memory, and related hardware. Additionally, it provides software, optimization solutions, and AI-enabled platforms. Cramer mentioned the stock during the January 3 episode and said:
Last night, Intel reported a decent enough quarter but offered distinctly suboptimal guidance for the current quarter, which it said was totally because of the CPU shortage. Remember, anything that goes into a PC or server is in short supply, thanks to the data center boom. So Intel can’t make enough CPUs to truly profit from the shortage. They planned wrong. They were caught unawares. It happens, but that’s why the stock got obliterated today, down 17%.
They didn’t factor in the storage correctly. There was just too much shortage, just way more than they thought… Intel’s slide was so bad that it dragged down the memory chip makers. Pure guilt by association, but that’s ridiculous. Intel doesn’t have a problem with demand. They said we can’t produce enough supply. The industry’s in great shape. This is just one company with lackluster execution and no more than that. I think Intel’s still a great company. It’s come back under Lip-Bu Tan. I think it’s going to take advantage of the CPU shortage, and I do believe that Lip-Bu can fix what’s ailing the company. It was a very broken company when he came in.
9. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 105
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer highlighted his interview with the company’s CEO, as he said:
We got another big clue the very next day when I got a chance to interview Sanjay Mehrotra, the CEO of Micron, what a stock, what a company, on Squawk on the Street. That’s when Micron broke ground on a hundred billion dollar semiconductor foundry in our state, New York. While that facility won’t be up and running until 2030, you better believe it needs equipment. On top of that, Micron’s working on a new fab in Boise, Idaho, which will begin adding output by the second half of 2027. Micron also broke ground on a new fab in Singapore yesterday. That should start producing in the second half of 2028. Dizzying, right?
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) develops memory and storage solutions, including DRAM, NAND, and SSD products, under the Micron and Crucial brands. Cramer highlighted the stock’s gains for the current year during the January 22 episode, as he remarked:
This is something I haven’t talked about to you. It’s a huge part of the story. There’s a new group of tech stocks in town, and they are sucking up money from the rest of the sector, from the Seven, and these are prosaic, boring companies. They’re storage plays. I have been talking about the storage plays as a warning sign because they’ve rallied so far, so fast. But there are tons of investors who love to chase hot stocks, and if they want to buy a Sandisk or a Seagate or a Western Digital or a Micron, wow, the best plays in storage, they gotta sell something… Consider Micron, a very good semiconductor company. You know, we talk about them all the time, makes storage components. Stock’s up 39% since the beginning of January… What you’re seeing right now is the great transference. For the first time since the creation of Magnificent Seven back in March of 2023, these stocks have become donors to the market capitalization of these storage companies… Even up here, Micron’s not expensive on a price-to-earnings basis, but we don’t know how long the memory shortage will last. I think it could last some time. So it could be worth buying even up here, you know, if it’s down for a day.
8. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 82
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer mentioned the stock during the episode and commented:
Whenever there’s a chip shortage like we have now, sooner or later, these companies start buying more manufacturing equipment in order to boost production. That’s why ASML, Applied Materials, KLA, and Cramer fave Lam Research have been roaring because people know that they’ll have big orders as the year goes on. The big four semiconductor capital equipment makers rallied like crazy last year. They’re up anywhere from 29 to 39% just since the beginning of January. You’re not early, but they haven’t run nearly as much as the storage and memory makers. So, relatively, they’ve still got more room to run…
Now, the specific commentary was about Taiwan Semi investing to meet demand for AI semiconductors, not necessarily memory or data storage chips, but if anything, that’s better for the capital equipment makers because manufacturing AI chips requires more advanced hardware. ASML is best positioned for this type of leading-edge equipment, but all the big four semiconductor capital equipment companies participate in the market, which is why they all had such huge gains in response to Taiwan’s Semi’s quarter. Rational.
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) builds and maintains semiconductor lithography equipment. It provides systems like ultraviolet scanners and inspection tools to help chipmakers create integrated circuit patterns.
7. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 194
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer explained how the company’s earnings and management commentary were “great news” for the semiconductor capital equipment makers. He said:
I think this industry has a lot more going for it. Two weeks ago, Taiwan Semi, the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, reported a total blowout quarter. More important, management said that the demand’s on fire. They plan to invest heavily in building out the production capacity. For this year, Taiwan Semi guided for 52 to $56 billion in capital expenditures. That’d be up 27 to 37% from last year. Wall Street was expecting less than 45 billion.
When management was asked if that would be enough to fix the chip shortages, their answer was a clear no. Taiwan Semi doesn’t see supply and demand coming into balance until 2028 or 2029. So they’re planning to keep their capital expenditures high for the next few years. Again, great news for the semiconductor capital equipment makers.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) produces and sells integrated circuits and semiconductor devices. The company provides fabrication and other related services.
6. Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 84
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer mentioned the stock while discussing the performance of the big players in the memory market, as he remarked:
How do you play the memory boom without chasing these data storage stocks? The four big players in the space, Micron, Western Digital, Seagate, just reported, and Sandisk. Each one tripled last year, and they keep running in 2026. Just since the beginning of the year, Sandisk has more than doubled. The other three are up anywhere from 35 to 50%. I don’t want to chase those. I don’t chase the storage memory plays because even though there’s a severe shortage of this stuff, thanks to the data center build-out.
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) designs and supplies data storage solutions, including internal and external hard drives, portable drives, data center platforms, NAS systems, and related accessories. Night Watch Investment Management stated the following regarding Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC), a manufacturer of hard-disk drives, benefited from a large memory shortage driven by investments in AI data centers. The shares are up >200% since our purchase and we have been scaling down our position, given that memory cycles have historically been very short and very violent.
5. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 234
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer highlighted his discussion of China business with the company CEO, as he commented:
Hardly a day goes by when we don’t see some government intervention in the economy. Yesterday, I spoke to Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. He was in China… He seemed confident that he could win some meaningful Chinese business, but he said he preferred to keep the potential contracts out of any earnings estimate for the time being.
We ran out of time in the interview before I could ask him how NVIDIA would account for the 25% of China sales that are supposed to go to the US government as part of the bargain the firm struck with the president… NVIDIA stock, by the way, finally showed signs of life. It’s only up 1% for the year. I think that that’s ridiculous. I think it should catch up with the rest of some of these big Mag Seven names.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) develops accelerated computing and AI platforms, GPUs for gaming and professional use, cloud services, robotics and embedded systems, and automotive technologies.
4. RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 76
RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer discussed the company’s buyback situation during the episode, as he said:
Then there’s RTX, which had been singled out by the president for being least responsive of the defense contractors to the Department of War’s demands for quicker, better munitions and fewer buybacks. That was in a Truth Social post. The company addressed these concerns several times on the conference call. It was very responsive. I’ve known RTX to be a huge repurchaser of its shares in the last five years, a serial buyback company, not this time.
The key contractor for the Golden Dome project, it didn’t buy back any shares this quarter. Saw its share count grow, which should cause a 5-cent per share earnings headwind this year. They got the message. As CEO, Chris Calio explained, “We fully support the Department of War’s transformation objectives to significantly increase capacity and accelerate production over a sustained period.” My conclusion: the Truth Social post worked. Now, RTX is on board. The stock rallied nicely. They’re going to keep the dividend, but wow, buyback…
RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) makes aerospace and defense systems for commercial, military, and government customers. The company builds aircraft engines, avionics, and defense technologies, and also provides maintenance, training, and support services.
3. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 106
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer analyzed how government demands impacted the company, as he stated:
On the other hand, though, the defense contractors saw their bottom lines crimped by the president’s efficiency crackdown. He’s demanding quicker results for the Pentagon. Boeing had to take a hit on a big tanker contract where the government wants… more timely product. As CEO, Kelly Ortberg pointed out, “As you know, the Department of War is super focused on us, first of all, making investments to support growth, and also ensuring that we’re delivering on time. And so we took that decision, albeit a big gulp, to have to take a charge here on the tanker program.”
Ouch. It killed the stock. It was down. It would’ve been up big if it weren’t for the charge, but so what? It wasn’t. At the same time, though, Ortberg did credit the president for a hefty increase in Boeing’s backlog. Still, the charge brought out the sellers. Some are just too tired of the company’s missteps. Now, it is a big position for our Charitable Trust. We told club members at our morning meeting… “Stick with the program.”
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) designs and builds commercial aircraft, defense systems, satellites, and space technologies, and provides related support and service solutions.
2. Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 44
Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer highlighted the company’s “mixed quarter,” as he commented:
What else? Last night, Nucor, our largest steel company, reported a mixed quarter and shares pulled back today, but the stock was up at its 52-week high coming into the quarter, and the actual print wasn’t nearly as good as the stuff underneath. I think there were many positive factors… Nucor’s being protected by steel tariffs to block foreign products from being dumped on our soil. Remember what that means. They are making it and selling it for less than their cost of production, and wiping out our steel industry. No more. As CEO Leon Topalian said on last night’s call, “What we’ve seen out of Commerce and USTR is a very supportive trade environment that’s pro-America and pro-U.S. manufacturing.” Topalian told me that the import picture is the best in his 30 years at Nucor.
Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) manufactures steel and steel products, including sheet, plate, bar, and structural steel. The company also produces raw materials, metal products, and industrial gases for construction, manufacturing, and energy applications.
1. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about, along with the memory shortage. Cramer discussed the company’s earnings and the following rally, as he said:
… In the last 24 hours, we’ve seen the president’s policies bolstering some domestic manufacturers. GM, it reported a huge profit boost today, sharply better than expected. Some of that’s because GM has a great car and truck lineup. They’ve had the highest full-year market share in a decade, but GM’s also been a huge beneficiary of less stringent environmental regulations, allowing the company to sell popular gas guzzlers, no fines, no purchases of EV credits. And while it wasn’t stressed, GM certainly benefits from tariffs on importing cars. GM CEO, Mary Barra, listen, time for you to take a victory lap. You’re offering the best cars and trucks at the best prices. You deserve a huge amount of credit. And I agree with Barra when she says 2026 will be even better. And we have to credit this business environment and the president’s support for some of that success. Shareholders did well. GM stock jumped almost $7 or 8.75%.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) manufactures vehicles and parts under brands such as Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC.
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