Following the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday, Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, argued that not much has shifted in the broader market narrative despite the flurry of activity that came after the announcement.
“If anything, the market’s wild action after the 2:00 PM statement and the 2:30 press conference created some interesting buying opportunities. Why is that? Because we around here do not trade cuts in rates. That’s not what we do. We don’t buy or sell stocks based on statements by Jay Powell. We’re not that thoughtless. Of course, we want to see how the bond market reacts.”
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Cramer noted that bond prices dropped and yields moved higher, though he described the movement as relatively contained. He said, “It was nothing major.” He characterized the day’s events as something close to a return to normal trading conditions, except for the likelihood that the president will criticize Powell for taking what he perceives as inadequate action.
Posing the question of whether anything has changed, Cramer said, “Honestly, not much.” He went on to say, “Just that people don’t like to say that because that’s not newsworthy.” He concluded that staying the course with technology and artificial intelligence stocks still makes sense in the current environment.
“The bottom line: Sorry, spectators who wanted something exciting, it’s steady as she goes from Powell, it’s, well, if you ask me, exactly what we needed.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 7 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on September 17. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the second quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 900 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 New Lightning Round: 7 Stocks Highlighted
7. Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25
Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted in his new lightning round. Answering a caller’s query about the company, Cramer said:
“You know what, it’s just another outsourced company. I do not, I don’t mean to slam them. I find nothing all that interesting about the company. It doesn’t mean it can’t be bought, but I am not that intrigued by it. How about that?”
Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) provides technical, engineering, and consulting services, specializing in energy efficiency, infrastructure projects, and municipal support. The company’s services include audits, program design, construction management, disaster recovery, and compliance services for public, private, and government clients. Conestoga Capital Advisors stated the following regarding Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) provides technical and consulting services to utilities, private industry, and public agencies. WLDN’s 1Q performance was well above expectations, delivering 12% organic revenue growth. New wins, steady funding in their core programs, and three strategic acquisitions are driving the broad-based growth. Data centers and electrification are increasing demand for electricity and fueling investment in reliable power and resilient grid infrastructure. We believe these trends will remain in place and continue to support solid financial results over the coming years.”
6. SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 32
SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted in his new lightning round. Asking for advice on the stock, a caller highlighted its recent decline, its short-term recovery toward 261, and inquired whether it is a buy. Cramer said:
“Okay, I, again, I am caught here. Christian Klein delivered a great quarter. I think that this stock is just, I’m going to say it, I would buy SAP right here. I really would. That was a good quarter.”
SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) delivers enterprise software solutions spanning finance, supply chain, HR, spend management, customer experience, and industry-specific applications. Cramer discussed the company in an October 2024 episode, as he commented:
“… This is the German software giant… SAP has been delivering stellar results as it advises companies on tech strategies, including cloud enterprise resource planning and adopting artificial intelligence. They’re very good. They have a lot of ideas for you. A lot of companies love to sign up with them.”
Since the above comment was aired, the company’s stock is up around 2.3%.
5. Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36
Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted in his new lightning round. Noting that they have held the stock for some time, a caller inquired about it. Here’s what Mad Money’s host had to say in response:
“Eagle Materials. No, no, no. We don’t want Eagle Materials. We would take OC before that one, and of course, we could always buy Home Depot, and I think that those are better.”
Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) produces and sells cement, concrete, aggregates, gypsum wallboard, and recycled paperboard for residential, commercial, and infrastructure construction. L1 Capital stated the following regarding Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:
“On the negative side, 3 companies, Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP), Marsh & McLennan and UnitedHealth Group (in alphabetical order) each detracted more than 0.5% from the Fund’s returns for the quarter.
There were no company-specific issues associated with Eagle Materials, but rather the company’s share price was impacted by sector concerns regarding a broad softening in U.S. new residential construction conditions. As illustrated in Figure 10, there has been a relatively modest pull back in new residential construction activity, with greater pressure on multi-family construction compared to single family housing.
Housing is a highly cyclical industry. The recent pullback is nothing like the industry correction following excessive construction in 2005 and 2006. While there are regional pockets of excess inventory, in general it is universally accepted that there is a shortage of housing in the U.S. following an extended period of under-building post the Global Financial Crisis. Prior to the recent correction, we assessed market conditions as broadly mid-cycle. As illustrated in Figure 11, while housing affordability is low, it has not worsened over recent months. Mortgage rates and house prices have both been relatively stable. In our view, the recent downturn in housing activity reflects caution by prospective buyers as a result of the recent macroeconomic and tariff uncertainties, lower consumer confidence and an expectation that mortgage rates will stay higher for longer, reducing the potential to refinance mortgages at a lower rate in the nearish term…” (Click here to read the full text)
4. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted in his new lightning round. When a caller asked about the company, Cramer stated:
“We’re thinking on Cleveland-Cliffs that it’s had a nice little run here and that we want to be in Nucor. Why do I say that? Because I love the balance sheet. I love the expansion plan in Nucor, and I think that it’s a little less levered to autos, which is good.”
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) produces flat-rolled, stainless, electrical, and specialty steels along with iron ore, hot-briquetted iron, and related components. Cramer mentioned the stock in a July episode and said:
“What do we make of this incredible comeback in Cleveland-Cliffs stock today, the vertically integrated steel maker focused on value-added steel products, particularly for the auto industry. This stock plunged from the low 20s early last year down to five bucks and change this past May when President Trump approved, and you know I’m against this, the Nippon Steel acquisition of U.S. Steel, which Cleveland-Cliffs also wanted to buy.
But shortly after the deal was approved, Cliffs got a gift from the administration. The president doubled the tariff on steel imports from 25% to 50%. In response, the stock jumped 23% in a single session. And it’s never looked back because, well, the president may have saved the industry, and it exploded higher once again today, up more than 12% when Cleveland-Cliffs reported a better-than-expected quarter. There’s a sense that business will only get better as we process the higher steel tariffs.”
3. DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 49
DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted in his new lightning round. A caller asked Cramer for his projection on the timing and potential upside for the stock, which is held in the Charitable Trust portfolio, and mentioned that they believe it may be nearing a breakout. He replied:
“I’m beginning to wonder whether it doesn’t have to wait till the November split off. I mean, I really think that that’s what’s happened. It’s in, it’s in split off hell. I mean, the stock can’t get any mojo. It’s doing incredibly well. Lori Koch is terrific. I mean, this thing is driving me batty, but I am not going to sell it just because I’m being driven crazy by it. I got other things to do.”
DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD) develops technology-driven materials and solutions for semiconductors, electronics, packaging, displays, and industrial applications. Additionally, the company provides specialized products for automotive, aerospace, healthcare, printing, safety, water treatment, and building industries.
2. Rubrik, Inc. (NYSE:RBRK)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52
Rubrik, Inc. (NYSE:RBRK) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted in his new lightning round. A caller asked for Cramer’s thoughts on the stock during the lightning round, and he commented:
“I thought the last quarter was good. I, the stock got hit on the quarter. I don’t, you know, maybe I’m not the call on this. I didn’t think the stock should have gone down. So I like it, and I think you’re okay.”
Rubrik, Inc. (NYSE:RBRK) delivers data security and protection solutions spanning enterprise, cloud, SaaS, and unstructured data, with offerings in threat analytics, security posture, and cyber recovery. When a caller inquired about the stock in an April episode, Cramer replied:
“Okay, this is again, it’s another stock, Bipul Sinha came on the show. I thought he told an amazing story, cybersecurity. Do we need to be in a Mag Seven when we can be in a Rubrik?”
Since the above comment, Rubrik, Inc. (NYSE:RBRK) stock is up 6%.
1. Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted in his new lightning round. During the lightning round, a caller asked about the company, and Cramer stated:
“Okay, I’m torn about Seagate. I’ve known the company forever… From when it started. Here’s my problem: it sells at 20 times earnings. It’s the number one… I think like top three performing in the S&P 500. But at 20 times earnings, that’s a lot for a storage company. So I would be careful not to buy it at this high point. It’s just had such a big run.”
Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) provides data storage solutions, including enterprise HDDs, SSDs, external drives, and the Lyve edge-to-cloud platform. Cramer mentioned the stock in a July episode. He commented:
“In fourth place… this is an amazing one, Seagate Technology of all things, up 67% in the first half after more than doubling from its lows in April. Seagate makes hard drives and flash-based solid state drives, basically storage hardware, the textbook commodity tech product. But right now, the hard drive business is booming, and the company announced a $5 billion buyback a little over a month ago while projecting mid-teens revenue growth through 2028. That’s not bad.
This one’s a reflection of the AI data center bull market. As long as people are building these big warehouses full of servers, they need everything that goes into a server, including storage, even if the lineage is ancient. We had a big scare earlier this year with all that DeepSeek nonsense. But once companies began reporting in April, it became clear that DeepSeek had no impact on anything, and stocks like Seagate have been making up for lost time ever since. Can it keep running? Look, if data center demand stays strong, it wouldn’t surprise me, even as this one’s just made a new all-time high today.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than STX and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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