Jim Cramer Warned About Market Manipulation & Discussed These 22 Stocks

In this article, we will discuss: Jim Cramer Warned About Market Manipulation & Discussed These 22 Stocks. For more stocks, you can head to Jim Cramer Warned About Market Manipulation & Discussed These 5 Stocks.

With the hottest topic on the market right now being SpaceX’s IPO, CNBC’s Jim Cramer hasn’t held back on discussing the matter. SpaceX’s entry on the public markets has led to several rule changes for the premium NASDAQ 100, the S&P 500 and the FTSE Russell indexes. For the NASDAQ, the new methodology allows any new listed company that is among the 40 largest in terms of market cap to enter the NASDAQ 100 index after trading for 15 days. The rule comes in addition to changes to the float rules. For the S&P 500, the rule changes include tweaking profitability and seasoning requirements.

Estimates from Bloomberg analyst Rob Du Boff suggest that S&P index funds might be forced to buy 19% of SpaceX’s float. Cramer, in his first tweet about index reblancing blasted the index rebalancing:

“The index rebalancings at the bell yesterday were criminal. The exchanges and the largest companies and fund managers have to get together and figure out how to do these things correctly. A 3:50 pm. re-balance with no buybacks allowed can crunch billions for NO REASON.”

He then added that such rebalance, for firms such as SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, could see market manipulation and losses:

“Every rebalance for Anthropic, SpaceX and OpenAI will lead to the chaos we saw at 3:50 p.m. unless we take this stuff out of the shadows. The manipulation potential is so fraught and the losses will be so palpable that it has to be discussed ahead of time to stave it off!!!”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of stocks that Jim Cramer discussed during the episode of Squawk on the Street aired on May 29th and tweeted about. 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 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 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).

22. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 72

Computer hardware firm Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) was in the news earlier this week after its latest financial results saw the firm post meteoric revenue and net income growth. Its shares are up by an unbelievable 101% over the past month and closed 32% higher on Friday. Ahead of the earnings, several analysts were optimistic about Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL). Bank of America raised the share price target to $246 from 205 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The bank discussed the impact of the growth in agentic AI and its impact on server companies. Evercore ISI hiked Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)’s share price target to $240 from $205 and remarked that the firm appeared to be benefiting from long-term enterprise AI commitment. Cramer discussed Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)’s results in detail after the earnings and praised the conference call. He also commented on CEO Michael Dell’s share buybacks and overall charitable nature:

“Yeah,  I mean look, people didn’t see this coming. Which is hard to believe because Michael’s been saying things are good. . .but what happened is this that, there were people who were so off the market. Some of them, 165, that take it to 500 dollars. Some people thought that they were going to have problems, still, with memory. Don’t realize that they have great supply chain. I’ve got to tell you, David, this is really interesting. You know that it’s not Michael on the conference call, it’s Jeff Clarke. And Jeff always does it. And Jeff plays it straight. So you’re listening and you’re taking down the numbers and you’re realizing, no it’s not possible. As opposed to, we had the greatest quarter. He doesn’t do that.

“If you want to read a conference call that explains how you should talk about business, then you should be on Dell. Because I think Dell, they spread the love. It’s obvious that you can buy Arm, AMD, Intel, Micron, mostly, it’s a lot of data center, of course, NVIDIA is the reason a lot of things are working for them. Particularly they have Vera Rubin, the next generation. And they could have actually said, something that was, we’re taking a lot of share from Super Micro. They didn’t say that. Of course Super Micro is now up. . .things are so strong for everybody.

“One thing that’s different about Dell is. If you take a look, Dell has bought back, Michael bought back a huge number of shares. In particular because when I saw him in GTC two years ago, that’s the NVIDIA trade show, he was saying listen Jim, if my stock stays right here. . .I’m gonna just go buy it all. And don’t forget I took it private one time when it wasn’t valued correctly. And well, I guess it wasn’t valued correctly and he bought a huge, I don’t know if you’ve seen the sheer number of what he bought.

“I wish everyone knew him. Cause he’s, Carl he’s not, you know, the Fitzgerald, the rich are not like you and me, no, it’s different. He is.”

However, in a tweet, the CNBC TV host regretted not being optimistic about Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)  earlier:

“Furious that I missed Dell, grateful that i emphasized how i think the world of Dell at the top of the CNBC Investing Club meeting. I hate shilling for anything but jeez the Investing Club is a bargain. And a signed book, too!! Give it a shot!”

21. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 58

Enterprise hardware firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)’s shares are up by 149% over the past year and by 78% year-to-date. JPMorgan discussed the firm on May 15th as it raised the share price target to $37 from $27 kept an Overweight rating on the stock. Among the factors that the bank discussed was an easing in the tight memory market. Earlier, Bank of America raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)’s share price target to $38 from $32 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. Like Cramer, the bank discussed the agentic AI driven tailwinds and their impact on Dell, and by extension, on Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE). BofA added that higher valuation multiples were affecting both firms. Here is what Cramer said about the enterprise computing firm following its earnings:

“What I think is going to confuse people is that, you’re going to see HPE up a lot, you’re going to see Super Micro, those are competitors, up a lot. Those are competitors”

20. Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 49

Server hardware firm Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)’s shares are up by 48% year-to-date and by 15% over the year. Recently, the firm is once again under the spotlight for accusations of having allowed the transport of sanctioned hardware into China. Mizuho discussed Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)’s shares on May 12th as it raised the share price target to $36 from $30 and kept a Neutral rating on the stock. As other analysts have remarked for firms like HPE, Mizuho discussed the impact of the growth in agentic AI computing on Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)’s business. Cramer discussed the firm after Dell’s stellar earnings and remarked that even though Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) was ceding market share, the stock market wouldn’t care and take the shares up. The firm’s shares closed 11.6% higher on Friday:

“Dell’s taking share as I mentioned from Super Micro, no one’s gonna care. They’re gonna take that up. You’re going to see all the companies that do DRAM and CPU, up.”

19. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 275

AI GPU giant NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of Jim Cramer’s favorite stocks even though the shares have remained lackluster this year. Year-to-date, the stock is up by a modest 11.8%. Baird discussed NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s shares on May 21st as it raised the share price target to $500 from $300 and kept an Outperform rating. The financial firm remarked that the semiconductor firm’s first quarter results merited the upgrade as it benefited from the growth in hyperscaler capital expenditure for artificial intelligence. Cramer commented on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) following Dell’s earnings, and like Baird, he also remarked that the firm stood to benefit from the growth in AI spending:

“Dell’s taking share as I mentioned from Super Micro, no one’s gonna care. They’re gonna take that up. You’re going to see all the companies that do DRAM and CPU, up. And you’re not going to see NVIDIA up. And yet it’s NVIDIA that is the biggest winner. And it’s become very mind numbing to people like me, who know NVIDIA and who’ve owned it forever for the charitable trust. That it’s just not performing. Not performing.”

18. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 138

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment provider Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is one of the most crucial stocks in the AI era due to its position at the upstream of the AI supply chain. The shares are up by 187% over the past year and by 67% year-to-date. As per The Fly, Argus discussed Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s shares on May 19th. It raised the share price target to $500 from $420 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. The bank outlined that the chip equipment company’s long term outlook was supported by AI chip demand. Cramer also discussed Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s role in the semiconductor industry:

“I had Applied Materials on last night. Remember, they make the machines that make memory. And everyone’s on allocation. They don’t mean to. They could try it 24/7. Try and make the machines. You can’t keep up with demand if you’re a semiconductor capital equipment company stock. And by the way AMAT when you go to Taiwan Semi, let’s get a little patriotic here for a second, those are AMAT machines in there.

“You know, AMAT changed the way you do contracts. It used to be like, the buyer told AMAT what they needed. Now AMAT is saying, listen, here is what we can offer. And we’re gonna have to do it on a contract basis.”

Impax US Sustainable Economy Fund discussed Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) (Information Technology, Semiconductor Materials & Equipment) is owned for its better-than-average Corporate Resilience profile and attractive sustainability opportunities including Resource Efficiency, Enhancing Productivity and Digital Infrastructure. Applied Materials rallied strongly primarily on the back of a blowout February earnings beat, where management guided for over 20% semiconductor equipment revenue growth in calendar 2026 and positioned the company as a direct beneficiary of accelerating AI infrastructure investment in leading-edge logic, high-bandwidth memory, and advanced packaging. Despite a sharp pullback in March on China export control concerns and revenue headwinds, the stock closed the quarter meaningfully higher.”

17. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 353

eCommerce and cloud computing giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s shares are up by 32% over the past year and by 19% year-to-date. Bank of America discussed the firm on May 21st as it kept a Buy rating and a $310 share price target. Among the factors that BofA discussed included the impact of AI demand on the firm’s cloud computing business and increasing profitability, along with a growing backlog. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) suffered a setback earlier this week when Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded in Florida. The rocket was due to fly the firm’s internet satellites to orbit, and while the payload remained safe, the launch pad’s destruction could impact Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s launch timeline for the satellites. Cramer briefly discussed the incident:

“Amazon is down because, their satellites were on board the Blue Origin, that was now, I don’t know if anyone saw that.”

Artisan Value Fund discussed Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“We initiated four new positions in Q1, an above-average pace of activity. Typically, we add 1–2 new positions per quarter, averaging 1.7 per quarter over the past 5 years. Increased market volatility and greater dispersion in US equities created more opportunities to invest in companies that meet our three margin of safety criteria: attractive business economics, sound financial condition and compelling valuation. We also used the increased volatility to upgrade overall portfolio quality. Our three largest new positions were Amazon.com, Universal Music Group (UMG) and IQVIA Holdings.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) represents a high-quality, wide-moat franchise where near-term investment is potentially obscuring substantial long-term earnings power. The company’s core retail platform is underpinned by its logistics network built over decades and enhanced by significant investment during COVID that doubled the network. This infrastructure continues to drive efficiency gains and customer value, reinforcing Amazon’s dominant market position. Complementing this is AWS, the original hyperscale cloud platform and a critical profit engine, contributing roughly 60% of operating income. AWS remains a leading cloud platform and a key profit driver, with strong positioning in AI supported by proprietary chips such as Graviton and Trainium. Despite elevated capital expenditures tied to AI, logistics and other growth initiatives, Amazon’s financial position remains exceptionally strong, with significant net cash and a well-laddered debt profile. Current earnings understate normalized profitability, in our view, due to heavy reinvestment across multiple initiatives, including AI infrastructure, robotics and new delivery capabilities. As these investments mature, we believe both revenue growth and margins should expand. At our initial purchase, the stock traded near historic valuation lows relative to its earnings power, offering an opportunity to own a premium, structurally advantaged business at a market-like multiple, with potential additional upside from its fast-growing, high-margin advertising segment.”

16. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 154

Memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is one of the hottest stocks on Wall Street. Its shares are up by an unbelievable 927% over the past year and by 207% year-to-date. Barclays discussed Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) on May 27th as it raised the share price target to $1,175 from $675 and kept an Overweight rating on the stock. The bank commented that the chip company was benefiting from the fact that memory chips remained the hottest item in the AI buildout after GPUs. A day earlier, UBS had raised Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price target to $1,625 from $535 and kept a Buy rating on the stock on the back of benefits from long term memory supply agreements. Cramer commented on the firm’s CEO and its role in the data center market:

“Look, when you talk to Sanjay, okay, Sanjay will tell you, look I can’t make it. And I’m trying to make it 24/7, I can’t. He told you that high bandwidth memory is really the choking point. That’s what you really need in every data center. . .”

Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund discussed Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Beneath the surface, excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) continues to foster an environment of extreme valuation disparity between perceived winners and losers of an AI infrastructure buildout and the associated implications of use cases proliferating across the global economy. Euphoria is typically born in truth (a positive business driver) and then over-extrapolated in valuation. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is currently a major AI beneficiary due to surging demand for memory and storage. An observation of Micron Technology’s enterprise value to sales multiple provides one indication of where we are today. In just a few years, MU has seen its EV/sales multiple expand six-fold.  MU is a “Deep Value” company, one which was a strong contributor to our portfolio in the 2023-24 timeframe. Despite very real revenue/margin drivers from AI demand, we expect the passage of time to prove that MU remains an extremely cyclical and capital-intensive company that still sells a commodity and can have violent swings in profitability.”

15. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 78

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) is an oil and gas exploration and production company. Its shares are up by 38% over the past year and by 33% year-to-date. UBS discussed the firm on May 7th as it trimmed the share price target to $65 from $67 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares. The bank’s coverage came after Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)’s latest earnings report, as it remarked that the oil company was bolstering its free cash flow growth through successfully executing its long term strategy. The earnings. saw Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)’s revenue miss analyst estimates and GAAP earnings beat analyst estimates. Cramer recommended buying the shares:

“Look if you have to buy the oil stocks, it’s Conoco [inaudible] Oxy’s second. If you want growth, you still do Diamond. And if you want natural gas, [inaudible] Devon. And I like natural gas a lot. I think that EQT is really [inaudible]. EQT is really good because it is the data center natural gas. And we want anything data center.”

14. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 74

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an oil and gas exploration and production company with operations all over the world. Its shares are up by 33% over the past year and by 17% year-to-date. Truist adjusted ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)’s share price target to $128 from $127 and kept a Hold rating on the stock on May 1st. The bank remarked that the oil company had a strong LNG portfolio, a deep resource base and other catalysts acting in its favor. Cramer was also quite optimistic about ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) as he recommended buying the firm:

“Look if you have to buy the oil stocks, it’s Conoco [inaudible] Oxy’s second. If you want growth, you still do Diamond. And if you want natural gas, [inaudible] Devon. And I like natural gas a lot. I think that EQT is really [inaudible]. EQT is really good because it is the data center natural gas. And we want anything data center.”

Diamond Hill Capital Large Cap Strategy discussed ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Exploration and production companies ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Diamondback Energy saw shares rise as the sharp rise in oil prices drove a broad rally across US-based oil producers. As geopolitical tensions in the Middle East tightened the supply outlook, investors increasingly rewarded US producers for their leverage to higher commodity prices, potential for outsized cash generation and capacity for strong capital returns.”

13. EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 82

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) is a natural gas company operating in the upstream and downstream segments of the industry. Its shares are flat over the past year and up by 2.7% year-to-date. Jefferies discussed the firm on April 26th as it raised the share price target to $77 from $76 and reiterated a Buy rating on the stock. The bank’s coverage came after EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) reported its fiscal first quarter earnings. The resulting earnings call left Jefferies impressed by the positive impact of power generation on natural gas demand. Cramer also discussed the growth in demand for natural gas stemming from data center use:

“Look if you have to buy the oil stocks, it’s Conoco [inaudible] Oxy’s second. If you want growth, you still do Diamond. And if you want natural gas, [inaudible] Devon. And I like natural gas a lot. I think that EQT is really [inaudible]. EQT is really good because it is the data center natural gas. And we want anything data center.”

Eagle Capital Management discussed EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) is the largest pure play U.S. natural gas producer. The company has long– teens in the lived assets, with decades of inventory. It also has a low– cost structure due to its enviable position in the Marcellus shale and captive pipeline assets. Management has an excellent track record of making wise strategic and capital allocation decisions. Despite selling a commodity product, EQT is a high quality business with operating margins exceeding those of 80 90% of S&P 500 companies. Natural gas in the U.S. trades at a wide discount to global prices. The combination of the inflection in U.S. electricity demand, LNG export growth, and disruption in the Middle East may narrow this discount over the next 5 10 years. We expect EPS growth in the mid teens.”

12. Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 52

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) is an oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in Texas and New Mexico. The shares are up by 42% over the past year and by 25% year-to-date. Barclays discussed the firm on May 5th as it raised the share price target to $225 from $190 and kept an Overweight rating on the stock. Barclays’ coverage came after Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)’s first quarter results, which saw the firm’s production beat expectations. Cramer mentioned the oil company as part of a broader set of stocks that he believes can be bought if one is interested in buying oil stocks:

“Look if you have to buy the oil stocks, it’s Conoco [inaudible] Oxy’s second. If you want growth, you still do Diamond. And if you want natural gas, [inaudible] Devon. And I like natural gas a lot. I think that EQT is really [inaudible]. EQT is really good because it is the data center natural gas. And we want anything data center.”

Artisan Value Fund discussed Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Due to the Iran war-driven supply shock to energy markets, our top Q1 contributors were energy holdings EOG Resources, Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) and SLB. They performed about in line with the sector, but we were overweight the sector, which helped portfolio performance. EOG and Diamondback are US shale-focused exploration and production companies. Diamondback also has a strong cost profile that is primarily the result of a contiguous, high-quality acreage position in the Permian Basin of the southwestern US. The company’s culture supplements the acreage position with drilling discipline and conservative business plans. Further, management is committed to a strong balance sheet and shareholder distributions.”

11. The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 31

Apparel firm The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)’s shares are down by 5% over the past year and by 16% year-to-date. Friday was a difficult day for the stock as it closed a whopping 15.4% lower. The dip came on the day The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) reported its fiscal first quarter earnings. The results saw the firm’s $3.50 billion in revenue miss analyst estimates of $3.52 billion while its $0.38 in earnings beat analyst estimates of $0.37. The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) also cut its sales growth outlook to 1% to 2% from an earlier 2% to 3%. On March 20th, JPMorgan increased the share price target to $35 from $33 and kept an Overweight rating on the stock. The bank commented that the shift came after The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) shared its long term plans. Cramer discussed the earnings:

“Now Richard Dickson’s doing a very good job. But it seems like it’s been inconsistent. This quarter, Gap, for instance, the actual flagship, was up 10%. But Old Navy was very disappointing. And that’s the biggest. And because Old Navy was disappointing, the company they just slashed the outlook in a way that people were kind of shocked. Old Navy projected down in the low single digits, it had been really, really strong.

“The issue was that they did not execute. Now we have some headline which says that they blamed it on the environment, the cost. No, it did not. . .specifically did not blame it on the environment, he blamed it on himself and on execution.

“So it was a jarring call, because Richard is really fabulous in fashion, I do have him tonight. And they caught some very big downgrades. Mathew Boss downgraded. A lot of people had really hoped that this was going to be the breakout quarter. He didn’t blame tariffs either. . .he just didn’t get it done. . .it was a brutally honest call. I recommend if someone did not have a good quarter, this is the way to do it. But the guide down was done by the CFO and it was disconcerting. Because if you take a longer term chart you’ll see the inconsistency in Gap has been very unnerving. Very unnerving.”

10. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 96

Data analytics firm Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)’s shares are up by 18% over the past year and are down by 6.7% year-to-date. After meeting with the firm’s management, Rosenblatt reiterated a $225 share price target and a Buy rating for Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)’s shares on May 21st. The financial firm remarked that the technology company could be worth a trillion dollars in the next five years. The growth, according to Rosenblatt, will be powered by Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)’s Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) software. Cramer discussed the recent share price performance:

“It’s good to see Palantir up. Because Palantir is now thought of as been left behind. And people want to be able to have enterprise software that is not directly. . .saaspocalyspse. . “

TCW Concentrated Large Cap Growth Fund discussed Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) (PLTR; Information Technology; 0.71%**) – Founded in 2003, Palantir is an enterprise software and AI platform company that builds systems that enable large organizations (governments, defense agencies, and enterprises) to integrate, analyze, and act on complex data through custom applications and workflows. Organizations are overwhelmed by vast amounts of data trapped in siloed, disparate systems, but they lack the connective tissue to operationalize that data into decisions and automated workflows. Palantir’s software creates connective tissue by layering a proprietary Ontology (a structured, real-time data model that maps objects, relationships, and business logic) on top of enterprise data sources, which then powers applications, agents, and other AI-powered use cases. Ontologies can be a heavy upfront lift, but they become a source of competitive advantage to the customer, enable accelerated time to value in an organization, and create stickiness with Palantir’s products. We believe Palantir’s competitive advantages include its technology, go-to-market motion, and high switching costs once the company is embedded in an enterprise. We believe the current share price does not reflect the long-term earnings power of the company.”

9. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 101

TD Cowen discussed enterprise software firm Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s shares on May 22nd. It reiterated a Buy rating and a $250 share price target. The financial firm remarked that Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) could benefit from strong demand in the data cloud sector. Citi cut the firm’s share price target to $188 from $200 on May 12 and kept a Neutral rating. The bank explained that Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s partners were reporting longer deal cycles and more renewals. Cramer discussed Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s agentic AI strategy and kept the faith with the firm:

“And Salesforce is up. No it was down a little bit, 177. Look there’s just a lot of people who say, wait a second, the RPO, their remaining performance obligation, not that good. The second quarter is not supposed to be good. There are a lot of things to pick at, Tableu was not good. The commerce cloud which had been a very important cloud was not good. They bought Informatica to make the numbers, there were just a number of holes but you have to believe that they have got an agentic strategy that’s going to pay off. And I believe it will. That was one of the reasons why yesterday I said, listen, I’m okay.”

Artisan Value Fund discussed Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Among the portfolio’s biggest decliners were Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), Accenture, Humana and PayPal Holdings, each of which dropped by 20% or more during the quarter. Salesforce is the largest provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software, a mission-critical tool for most businesses. Growth has slowed over the past year, unsettling investors who worry that generative AI could lead to the “death of software”—disrupting SaaS (software-as-a service) akin to how SaaS disrupted incumbents in the early 2000s. Salesforce, after all, pioneered the SaaS model when it launched in 1999. The fear is that SaaS could lose in multiple ways: Customers might require fewer seats as AI boosts productivity, or generative-AI companies might replace traditional SaaS applications with next-generation, DIY software that enterprises of all sizes can build themselves. A counterargument is that software platforms like Salesforce are already deeply embedded in critical customer workflows and may therefore be well positioned to deploy AI in ways that strengthen their moats. Recent softness appears more tied to a generally slowing macro environment than to AI disruption, which we believe will take years to unfold. Salesforce maintains a wide economic moat as the leading CRM provider and remains an active innovator.”

8. Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 49

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) is a software company that provides identity management, cybersecurity, and other products and services. The firm created quite a bit of hype last week as it reported its fiscal first quarter earnings report to post $765 million in revenue and $0.91 in adjusted earnings per share. The results saw Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) beat analyst estimates of $752 million and $0.85. Barclays had discussed the firm on May 14th as it raised the share price target to $93 from $90 and kept an Overweight rating on the stock. The financial firm outlined that Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) could raise its guidance during the earnings. On the 26th, Arete raised the rating to Buy from Sell and set a $127 share price target. The firm remarked that Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) could benefit from the growth in agentic AI. Similarly, Cramer, who has long been positive on cybersecurity stocks due to the growth in AI use and threats to US infrastructure, also briefly remarked that Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) was benefiting from the rise in agentic AI uses:

“Well you gotta protect the agents now.”

7. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 282

Software giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s shares are down by 2.2% over the past year and by 4.8% year-to-date. Recently, RBC Capital reiterated a Buy rating and a $640 share price target on the firm. It remarked that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) could expand its presence in the artificial intelligence market this year. Cramer has also regularly discussed the software company throughout 2026. Most of his remarks have expressed disappointment about the Copilot software. In this appearance, the CNBC TV host expressed relief that the shares had finally started to move upwards:

“Oh I’m glad [the shares are up]. Well I’m glad because some people felt that I was responsible for the. . .the stock came back. I was just simply saying, like when you’re on the Best Buy call, it was not a Microsoft love fest. . .you have to believe that some of the business that Dell had went to Microsoft. You know Microsoft is a big provider of corporate software and Dell does corporate software.”

Auxier Asset Management discussed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Software-related stocks in the portfolio have been hit hard due to the threat of margin compression from artificial intelligence. Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) 21.9% drop in the quarter was the worst decline since the 2008 financial crisis. They are spending $190 billion on AI-related capital expenditures in 2026 yet their AI Copilot product has failed to scale, with less than 15 million total paid seats. Google Gemini has successfully integrated their AI and captured the largest share of casual AI users with 2 billion people interacting with “Gemini-powered AI overviews” in Google Search every month. Microsoft has a large installed base with Fortune 500 companies. They have over $88 billion in cash on the balance sheet which is a huge competitive advantage. It is hard to bet against CEO Satya Nadella who took over in February 2014 and has a great record with the stock up over elevenfold.”

6. SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 47

SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) is a financial services provider. Its shares are up by 37% over the past year and are down by 33% year-to-date. Truist discussed the firm on May 12th. It reduced the share price target to $17 from $20 and kept a Hold rating on the shares. The financial firm explained that SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI)’s lower second quarter revenue estimates were behind the reasons for the revision. Earlier in the year, Wells Fargo had initiated coverage to set a $19 share price target and an Equal Weight rating on SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI)’s shares. While the bank admitted the firm’s leadership potential in the technology-driven financial services industry, it remained concerned about valuation. Cramer discussed the recent movement in SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI)’s shares:

“Yes and I was interested to see SoFi up because they are offering a stablecoin. I mean that’s just someone must be covering their short. That is not something that is going to blow away the numbers for Anthony Noto. And I’m a big believer in Noto but stock has not done anything.”

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