During a recent episode of Mad Money, which aired on Friday, the 9th of May, Jim Cramer urged investors to stop chasing hot stocks blindly and instead start with the most fundamental question of all: what are you investing for?
“Far too often people will invest in the stock market with the simple poorly defined goal of making money. That’s right. Poorly defined goal. Yeah, we all want to make money. I want it. You want it. But how quickly do you want that return? What are you willing to risk in order to get there? How much can you even afford to risk in the first place?”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Nailed These 12 Stock Predictions and 13 Stock Predictions That Jim Cramer Got Completely Wrong.
He stressed the importance of matching your stock choices to your actual financial goals such as retirement, home purchase, and college tuition, rather than treating all money as interchangeable. This, he explained, is the cornerstone of suitability:
“You simply can’t know which stocks you should buy if you haven’t taken the time to really consider what your objectives are. That’s the foundation of good investing judgment.”
Cramer closed the segment by reminding viewers that even though the U.S. remains one of the best markets for long-term growth, discipline must come before stock picking:
“America remains a growth country… But please get to know yourself before you jump down the rabbit hole of getting to know individual companies.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 9 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during Mad Money episodes that aired on the 7th and 8th of May 2024. We then calculated their performance for the past 12 months, until May 7th, 2025, market close. We have also included the hedge fund sentiment for the stocks, which we sourced from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database of over 900 hedge funds. The stocks are listed in the order that Cramer mentioned them.
Please note that this article mentions Jim Cramer’s previous opinions and may not account for any changes to his opinions regarding the stocks that are mentioned. It is primarily an examination of how his previously provided opinions have panned out.
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).
9. Nike, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 73
In that older episode, Cramer was asked about Nike, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the context of its prolonged stock decline and whether it could be a candidate to acquire Lululemon. He dismissed the acquisition idea but gave a favorable view on Nike’s valuation at the time, saying:
“Lululemon’s still expensive and I know they want to stay independent. You know, it’s kind of an interesting idea—in a kind of a perfect world, that would happen. But we’re not in a perfect world. In the world we are in, though, I think Nike is very cheap. How about that?”
Cramer’s prediction was a miss, with Nike shares sliding another 37.49% since then.
However, Cramer expressed his worries about Nike, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) more recently, highlighting the company’s risks due to tariffs and US-China trade relations. Here’s what he said in April:
“Well, I’ll tell you, you got Elliot Hill there. He’s an old hand. You have a 2.8% yield, but it is from China, it is China. The stock’s still $82 billion. Maybe it shouldn’t be $82 billion. I think the stock’s going to do very little. We own Starbucks for the Charitable Trust, and a lot of people feel that’s the same way, and I think Starbucks is a better company than Nike. So, just to understand that if it’s got China in it, people just say [sell, sell, sell] and then there’s nothing more to say.”
8. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 62
Cramer gave his view on Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) when asked whether it was still worth holding, particularly after a disappointing quarter. He gave a cautious yet supportive response.
“Kid’s got horse sense. I like CAT. I think it’s got 25% down and 10% up right now, ’cause that last quarter wasn’t that good. But I like you so much, I’m going to let you keep it.”
Caterpillar didn’t live up to the mild optimism, with shares down 7.16% since the episode.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. In a very recent episode, Cramer gave a possible reason for the company’s underperformance:
“I was going to do Caterpillar, Hold to Buy. That was a good piece. Baird had fought it every step of the way, the reason I didn’t do it is I didn’t want to make fun of the guy for being completely wrong.”
7. Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 37
Cramer responded to a question about Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX), a niche industrial vision systems company. He offered a mild endorsement, citing its profitability and performance at the time.
“You know—niche company, niche master. Cognex. Machine vision. I kind of like it. Makes money, you know what I mean? Look, is it going to catch on fire? It’s actually kind of caught on fire. But I like it.”
Cramer’s optimism didn’t age well as the stock has plunged 38.10% since his take.
Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) designs, develops, and manufactures machine vision systems, sensors, and industrial barcode readers used in automated manufacturing.
6. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 104
In that older episode, Cramer took a question about Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) from an investor wondering whether to reallocate into other energy dividend plays after receiving Exxon shares via a merger. Cramer supported a partial rotation while keeping core exposure. Here’s his analysis:
“You make it so hard on me, because the first two.. you know I like those dividends. ET and NPLX have fabulous dividends. But you know what, here’s what you’re going to do: you’re going to sell a quarter of the Exxon and put it in ET, and a quarter in NPLX. Don’t do the HUT, you don’t get the dividend. Keep the other half with Exxon and you’re going to do terrifically.”
Despite Cramer’s split strategy, Exxon stock fell 9.95%, undercutting the outlook.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is one of the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas companies, involved in exploration, production, refining, and distribution of petroleum products. Due to the recent drop in oil prices, Cramer gave a bearish outlook on the stock in April, saying:
“Friday’s important, not just because we have Exxon and Chevron. Hey, by the way, the two largest oil companies, and I doubt that they’ll really… have anything good to say because look at the price of oil.”
5. XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
In that older episode, a caller asked about XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO) following its earnings beat at the time. Cramer praised the company’s consistent execution and recommended owning the stock, saying:
“XPO reported last week and beat on the top and the bottom line. But they’re a serial beater. No, they’re a serial beater, it’s good. The stock is really good. The company’s really good. I would own it.”
The stock dipped by 0.77% since Cramer’s comments, making it an uninspiring prediction.
XPO (NYSE:XPO) is a freight transportation company that provides less-than-truckload, truckload, brokerage, multimodal options, managed transportation, and warehousing. Although the stock hasn’t done well in the past 12 months, Cramer still favors it and included it in his list of 20 all-time favourites. Here’s what he said in April:
“In 15th place is a company you should know or at least remember, it’s called XPO, the trucking company, formally known as XPO Logistics, which is up 6,493% since we started doing the show. This is a Brad Jacobs rollup and breakup story. He took control of the old Express-1 Expedited Solutions back in 2011. He changed the name to XPO Logistics and quickly got to work acquiring other companies. It’s rolling up companies in the very fragmented trucking and logistics industries.
Eventually, XPO became a leading player, but around four years ago, Jacobs and his team felt the company was undervalued, and they began breaking up the business, spinning off the logistics business as GXO Logistics and a freight brokerage business as RXO. The remaining XPO operates in the less-than-truckload sector, LTL. I have a lot of confidence in Brad Jacobs over the long term, but I don’t have much confidence in the trucking industry until we get past the disruption from the president’s tariffs. By the way, Brad Jacobs is now also doing Beacon Supply, doing a rollup in the, well, let’s say the roofing or maybe even bigger than that, housing industry.”
4. Celsius Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CELH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33
Cramer brought up Celsius Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CELH) in that same older episode as part of his deep dive into the energy drink space. Cramer concluded that he prefers the company over its competitor, Monster, saying:
“From mid-March to late April, the stock lost more than 30% of its value… largely because Celsius announced an amended distribution agreement with PepsiCo… nobody knew exactly what it meant. I sure didn’t. But the analysts assumed more compensation for PepsiCo — bad news for Celsius. Stock dropped 8.5% on the news. […]
Celsius continues to take market share in the energy drink category, reaching 11.4% by the end of the first quarter, up a full point from Q4 and up 4 points year-over-year. That’s huge. […]
Here’s the bottom line: Monster saw a small bounce… mostly because it also announced a big buyback. I’m not particularly impressed with the latest numbers. Celsius… gave us a noisy quarter that masked the true strength of the business… The stock’s still down about 18% from its highs. I think this is a very good entry point… You want to own shares of the company that’s taking market share like Celsius, not the one losing share like Monster. And when it comes to taste… Count me in as a Celsius drinker, only after four cups of coffee.”
Unfortunately for Cramer, Celsius plummeted 53.49%, making it one of his worst misses in the group.
Celsius Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CELH) develops and markets functional energy drinks, often touted as fitness-focused alternatives to traditional energy beverages. Jim Cramer tried to reiterate his bullish stance earlier in February, saying:
“But my surprise booking is Jonathan Fieldly on Monday. And he is Celsius. Which is up gigantically. Because they’ve made a fantastic acquisition. I like Jon very much, the group has been under pressure but he’s been a great long-term performer and I do think that this is going to be back! A storied stock! It would be Palantir.”
“Yes, the Alani Nutrition. A lot of people don’t seem to know but the numbers are spectacular. Makes it a little healthier company. Jon is, some people feel is a promoter. I think he is an operator. That’s different. Promoter and operator.”
3. Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52
Cramer mentioned Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) in an older episode during a segment comparing energy drink giants in light of recent earnings reports. He made it clear that he prefers Celsius over Monster, saying:
“Monster was down more than 15% in just over a month before stabilizing in the low 50s ahead of its most recent earnings report. So when we saw the actual numbers, did these declines turn out to be justified? […] Its stock shot to a new all-time high in mid-March. But the fourth quarter results actually weren’t that good. In fact, they missed on nearly every line. […]
Here’s the bottom line: Monster saw a small bounce… mostly because it also announced a big buyback. I’m not particularly impressed with the latest numbers. You want to own shares of the company that’s taking market share like Celsius, not the one losing share like Monster.”
Cramer dismissed Monster too early and the stock rose 10.77% since his comments.
However, Jim Cramer recently admitted that he likes Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST). He even included it in his list his 20 all-time favorites, saying:
“In seventh place, with a more than 10,300% gain, is a fun one, Monster Beverage, the energy drink company that was originally known as Hansen Natural before its big rebrand in 2012. Even though the stock’s lost some juice in recent years, the long-term gains here have been staggering, and I pounded the table on this one constantly in the early years.”
2. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 126
A viewer from New York asked about Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), its current valuation and prospects. Cramer admitted to having mixed feelings.
“You know, I’m struggling with Tesla. I’m struggling with Tesla because even after this decline, it’s still a $567 billion company. And I happen to think that there are problems in China, problems in Germany, problems in the United States, problems in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and problems with the robot. Otherwise? That is still might. […]
I’m tired of hearing about Elon Musk’s Robo taxi. Maybe one day there’ll be a savior but America isn’t set up for him and China wants to do it. They’re going to do it cheaper and homegrown.
Cramer got this one wrong as Tesla surged 55.35% despite the issues he highlighted.
However, Cramer provided a mix of opinions on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) since then. Here’s what he said in April following the EV maker’s earnings:
“It was a changeover quarter.”
“They’re talking about having a million robots. They’re talking about having much better than Waymo in Austin.”
“What I took away from this is that the reason why you had that really bad quarter if you wanna be simplistic about it, is he’s not been focused and they had this changeover and now he’s back. And the magic is back. So, you can have all these hedge fund managers, all the mutual fund managers who love him, they’ll just sit there and take the stock which is up 17 right now, they’ll take it up to 275 over the next couple of days. Because they love him so much. And he is, he’s not a pied piper, he’s a serious guy.”
“Yes he has. . .I think memories are short. I think they’ll have new models. I think he talked very positively about China. He does have a tariff problem.”
“[On rare earth metal constraints due to Chinese ban] They need a break there. They need some sort of deal. Maybe that’s something that would come up. David, I want to go back to this Waymo issue versus . . I mean he just says, look, Waymo is very expensive. It’s not really their own car. Uh, you’re going to see, in Austin, you’re going to see an explosion of Teslas. I think that’s the next big thing that gets to these managers all juiced and says I gotta buy this thing.”
1. QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 79
Cramer addressed QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) in the context of AI-on-the-edge developments and its strong recent earnings. He directed viewers to his club note and praised the stock.
“Okay, I need you to read through my piece that I wrote on Sunday for club members. You gotta read it—where I said my MOFO is QCOM. May I suggest that that is required reading for everybody. Join the club.”
Despite his conviction, Qualcomm stock sank 19.90%, making this another inaccurate call.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) is a global leader in wireless technology innovation, particularly known for its Snapdragon processors and 5G solutions.
QCOM is a stock Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of QCOM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. 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 QCOM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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