During Friday’s episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer offered his take on this week’s events in the markets and what lies ahead, especially as quarterly earnings season progresses.
“What can I say? We temporarily forgot who was in charge, who determined stock prices, who decides whether we’re going to have an up day or a down day. No, I’m not talking about the invisible hand of the market. I’m talking about the president. That’s right, because President Trump isn’t happy with his trade negotiations with the EU.”
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Cramer then went on to say that as the week progresses, attention will turn to an important inflation measure this coming Friday: the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index. He explained that while the data point was once largely overlooked, it has gained importance under Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who considers it an important method for assessing inflation.
Cramer stressed that cooling inflation is essential, but achieving that is complicated when tariffs are driving prices higher. He clarified that tariffs essentially function as a sales tax on imported goods, as he stated, “It’s never really meant anything else.” He warned against trying to rationalize them as anything else.
“Bottom line: We’re heading into a fickle week, one that will no doubt be punctuated with presidential postings about our trading partners, their intransigence, their negligence, their perfidiousness. Of course, the market ultimately shrugged off the real negative postings from this morning and, instead, focused on the endless obsession, the 10-Year Treasury, which was steady enough to trump President Trump and his renewed call for high tariffs. I hope that can continue next week, but I’ll tell you something, I wouldn’t count on it.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 12 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episodes of Mad Money aired on May 23. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock 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’s Game Plan: 12 Stocks in Focus
12. Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Pointing out that retail is “hard to navigate”, Cramer recommended owning Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) stock, not trading it.
“Lots of chatter, by the way, Ulta, that Ulta Beauty’s going to have a very strong quarter. Ulta is a stock that people like to make bets on. I don’t like that. I think retail’s very hard to navigate here. If you want to own Ulta… Please don’t trade it, just own it. Going back and forth will only lose you money. As long as you believe in the business, just hold on for the ride.”
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) is a retailer offering a mix of branded and private-label beauty products. It also delivers beauty services through its physical locations, online store, and mobile platforms. On April 25, Cramer commented:
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I’ve been thinking a lot about it. One of the reasons I’ve been thinking about is, you know that Sephora is in Kohl’s, and Kohl’s is doing so poorly that I think people are going to gravitate away from Sephora and come back to Ulta. Ulta’s got new management…. I think they got horse sense.”
11. Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 46
Cramer noted that Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) stock is favored no matter “what this company reports” and said:
“Oh, and then there’s a… stock, Zscaler, cloud-based cybersecurity company that’s gotten into the habit of reporting upside surprises. It’s unnerving to me that it doesn’t seem to matter what this company reports. It seems to be so loved these days. That’s where the opportunity is.”
Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) is a cloud security company that offers solutions for secure user and device access across digital environments. The company provides services that include tools for safe connections to external and internal applications, protection of data in public cloud settings, and management of identity and access privileges. On May 23, JPMorgan analyst Brian Essex increased the price target on ZS stock from $250 to $275 and maintained an Overweight rating.
In a research note, the firm pointed to rising valuations among peers as the reason for the adjustment. The firm expects Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) to report a strong quarter, supported by demand for secure access service edge and security service edge. As per the firm, the company is set to capture more market share in security service edge and continues to benefit from its position with large enterprise spending.