Why Jim Cramer Stands by Defense Sector and 19 Stock Calls

In this article, we will look at Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. The host of Mad Money spoke on Friday about the state of the defense sector in light of the Iran conflict, and said that he does not think investors should step away from these stocks.

Even though there may be an extremely tenuous ceasefire, you should absolutely not be giving up on the defense sector. No, please don’t give up on these stocks. Whether or not the ceasefire holds, I think this group remains a winner. Why? Because between the supplies that we’ve been giving Ukraine for over four years now, the supplies that we’ve been giving to Israel to defend itself against stepped-up attacks in recent years, and now the supplies that we’ve used ourselves, we’re going to have to spend hundreds of billions, literally, if not trillions of dollars, building back our weapons stockpiles.

READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Weighed In on the Tech Market Divide and 11 Stocks to Watch Now and Jim Cramer Reviewed 22 Stocks, Including Home Depot and Caterpillar, After the Relief Rally.

Cramer explained that the United States is already dealing with limited supply across a wide range of military equipment, from fighter jets to missile systems. He said it is not something that can be fixed quickly, and called it a multi-year effort that will take significant time to play out. He added that the demand tied to replenishing munitions alone will translate into meaningful and sustained business for defense contractors well into the future. He also said that the risks involved in not addressing these shortages are simply too high to ignore.

Here’s the bottom line: Even though the defense contractors haven’t really been able to rally since the war with Iran got going, that’s mainly because they were already flying in the two months leading up to the conflict. At this point, I think the whole group is poised for a major multi-year run. You should be thinking about these purely because we need to replenish most of our missile supplies, but also a lot of other hardware, and that’s especially beneficial, Lockheed Martin, RTX, and L3Harris. And for what it’s worth, Trump himself loves Palantir here, even though it’s gotten much harder to own thanks to those AI displacement fears.

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 19 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on April 10. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them.

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Why Jim Cramer Stands by Defense Sector and 19 Stock Calls

19. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Cramer shared his pessimistic view on the company, as he said:

I’d like to think that if Mark (the late Mark Haines, CNBC anchor) were alive, he’d look favorably on what we’re doing with the CNBC Investing Club. This morning in our morning meeting… we talked about how wrong we’ve been on the stock of Nike. There was a cogent downgrade this morning from Piper, which talked about a lack of innovation, and perhaps that was because the new CEO, Elliott Hill, an old hand who left Nike after 30 years, is basically reassembling the band at a time when what matters is newness. Now, Jeff Marks, my director of portfolio analysis, asked me about my stand on Nike, a stock I pressed to own because I thought it was incredibly cheap and Hill could bring back the glory days. I said I was going to give him until October, when it would be two years. He inherited a company with many more problems than anyone realized, and the turn is difficult to pull off. But I haven’t been early on Nike; I’ve been wrong. I don’t deserve a free pass either.

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is an athletic and casual footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories company that sells its products under brands, including Nike, Jordan, and Converse.

18. McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Cramer discussed the company’s acquisition of food brands from Unilever, as he commented:

I want to contrast that with how I handled myself the previous day with Brendan Foley, the CEO of McCormick, the spice company. Brendan’s just done a gigantic deal with Unilever to buy Hellmann’s mayonnaise from them, among other brands. Wall Street clearly thought he paid too much because the stock cratered. Now, I disagreed. I thought it looked like a good deal, but looking back, I think I gave Brendan a free pass because I didn’t press him on the cost, which was pretty high.

Some would say outrageously high during an era where the packaged food space is under siege. I could hear Mark (the late Mark Haines, CNBC anchor) in my brain saying, how could you run those brands better than Unilever? Why did you give away so much of the company? I mean, these are the questions he would’ve asked with immediate follow-up if the questions weren’t satisfactory. He wasn’t there to make friends. He was there to see if the CEO knew what he was doing.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) produces and sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and flavor products for consumers and food manufacturers.

17. CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV)

CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Cramer highlighted his discussions with the company’s CEO, as he stated:

My late friend, Mark Haines, the legendary CNBC anchor, almost always said during the break… There are no free passes on this show… I used to be a hedge fund manager and a very active trader, so he pointed out that I would like a stock one week and dislike it the next. I’d talk about price and events and how a stock had gone up high or a catalyst had come on, so you had to move. But the free passes, Mark hated it when someone was interviewed, and there were no tough questions asked, because he always said the audience deserved better.

I bring this up because of our interview this morning on Squawk on the Street with Michael Intrator, the man behind CoreWeave, a company that manages data centers. He just won a huge order from Anthropic, which we know is the be-all and end-all of these days of AI. After congratulating him, I asked him when his company was going to start making money; they lose a ton. He gave me an answer that I thought wasn’t on point, talking about how there’s so much growth to be had, he couldn’t afford to focus on profitability. So later in the interview, I went right back at him on profitability. He said, CoreWeave could be profitable in three months, but the opportunity was too great, so he planned to keep investing in the business. Actually, I found that answer satisfactory. I think it contributed to the immense run the stock enjoyed today, up 11% as people maybe felt better about the balance sheet because I pushed Michael hard on profitability, and he said, hey, listen, we could be profitable, but we’re not.

CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) runs a cloud platform designed to power and scale GenAI workloads with high-performance compute, storage, networking, and managed services.

16. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Toward the end of the lightning round, a caller asked about the stock, and here’s what Cramer had to say in response:

Exxon Mobil’s fine, but Chevron’s a better company. I mean, you know, I think about this all the time, honestly, and I just decided, just go with Wirth, and it’s been the right call. I’m sticking with it.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company that also manufactures fuels, petrochemicals, and specialty products. A caller asked about the stock during the April 2 episode, and Cramer responded:

Well, look, I think, you know, first of all, Chevron I like more than Exxon. I think they’re more forward-looking. So I would not, I don’t want you to cash out of Exxon for Chevron, but I’m just telling everybody else that’s the case. I think that, I’m going to speak as a portfolio manager myself for my Charitable Trust. I sold my oil, and it was a mistake, and it was clearly a mistake because we forget how important oil is to our country. We spoke to ONEOK today, just shows you the value of it. I think you should have one.

I’ve been trying to go back and forth with Jeff Marks about what to do. I would encourage you to stay in Exxon if you, if someone’s watching and listening and they don’t own one, go for Chevron. These are known as E&P plays, and I think you just own it, and take it from me as someone who wishes that he had not sold his one oil. It’s really good to have one. To be up 34% year to date is great… Just hold on. And new people who are thinking, wow, Jim really likes to own an oil, the oil that I like to own is Chevron.

15. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Inquiring about the stock, a caller asked if the market is in the early innings of another offshore drilling supercycle. Cramer replied:

No, I don’t think we are. If you’re doing offshore drilling, just go buy Chevron because no one drills offshore like Mike Wirth. And I know that’s the oil company, not the driller. You’d say, well, maybe you should be in Schlumberger. I say, just go be with Mike Wirth.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is an integrated energy company that explores, produces, refines, and markets oil, natural gas, and petrochemical products. When a caller inquired about the stock during the March 6 episode, Cramer replied:

Let me go to work on this… Because I gotta tell you something, you did hit the key stock in this entire market, and that is Chevron. Why? Because Michael Wirth is the best at what he does. You got Mike Wirth at the helm, you got the best assets, you got a great yield, you got a rock-solid balance sheet. But you now have a high stock price. This has just had a parabolic move… and what do you do with a parabolic move? You either sell half or sell a quarter, and that’s what you’re going to do Monday. That is not a criticism of Mike and Chevron; it’s what I always advise, and it’s almost always right. Sell half or a quarter. The stock has moved too high, too quickly.

14. SoundHound AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN)

SoundHound AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. A caller inquired about the stock, and Cramer replied:

See, I don’t know, still made no… money. And it was, look, there was a bit of time at one point when NVIDIA had a position in, and everyone got all excited about it. And you know, now I just think make some money, and I’ll talk about you, but they ain’t making money. So I’m a no go on that one, partner.

SoundHound AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN) develops voice AI technologies that enable businesses to create conversational and intelligent voice experiences. A caller asked Cramer about the stock during the March 23 episode, and he responded:

Well, look, I have to tell you, the stock only got to where it was because NVIDIA, for a moment, had a cup of coffee with that stock. And I’ve gotta tell you, I have always felt that it’s just a continual money loser, and we don’t recommend continual money losers on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money.

13. EquipmentShare.com Inc. (NASDAQ:EQPT)

EquipmentShare.com Inc. (NASDAQ:EQPT) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Answering a caller’s query about the stock, Cramer said:

Yeah, I misjudged, this one is not, you know, I honestly, God, I mean, it’s a profitable company. It’s down low. It hasn’t done anything in the last few months. I have to say, I still like it. I know that it seems gutsy to do that, but I still like the stock. I would actually buy more here.

EquipmentShare.com Inc. (NASDAQ:EQPT) provides a digital platform for construction equipment rentals and sales, as well as industrial tools and site management services. The company offers machinery parts, maintenance, and safety products. During the episode aired on March 24, a caller inquired about the stock, and Cramer responded:

This stock is falling apart here. It’s not expensive. I’m going to endorse it. The stock is now going too low. Don’t buy it all at once. Something’s clearly wrong, but I know the stock is just too cheap. It’s crazy.

12. Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS)

Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. When a caller asked about the stock during the lightning round, Cramer said:

It’s an amazing company, CarTech, and I think that you should just hold on to it. I always think of Nucor, and then I think of CarTech…

Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) distributes specialty metals, including titanium alloys, stainless steels, alloy steels, tool steels, and metal powders, as well as engineered metal parts. The company’s products are used in aerospace, defense, medical, transportation, energy, industrial, and consumer markets. During the lightning round of the episode aired on November 14, 2025, a caller inquired about the stock. In response, Cramer said:

No, it’s too late. It’s one of my favorites. It’s a great steel company. It’s moved up, moved up, moved up, moved up. Go buy Nucor, hasn’t moved up as much… okay. I remember growing up and being very proud that that company was right near me.

11. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. A club member asked whether their portfolio is diverse enough if their top 5 holdings are GOOGL, AAPL, MDT, MPLX, and RTX. In response, Cramer said:

Okay, I’m liking what I see here. One of my absolute favorite oils, okay. We got Alphabet. That is, it’s just crushing it. Don’t mess with Alphabet. They’re crushing it…They got the YouTube. They’re everywhere. Okay, Medtronic, healthcare company. I would actually, at this point, swap out Medtronic for JNJ. I think JNJ’s going to have better growth. Apple, we do we do? We own it, don’t trade it. And what have we been saying about RTX? May be, may be the best defense company on Earth, save Lockheed. Good call, good work.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) provides technology-related products and services, including search, advertising, cloud computing, AI tools, and digital content platforms such as YouTube and Google Play. During the April 7 episode, Cramer highlighted why he “stayed in” the stock, as he commented:

Yesterday was Alphabet. I kept hearing that Google was doing badly, which would slow down the growth of Gemini. With Anthropic coming on strong, albeit for business, ChatGPT maintaining its success, you might have to abandon ship Alphabet. I just started buying it for the Charitable Trust. I thought it made no sense whatsoever. You get YouTube, Waymo, Search, Chrome, Gemini. So I didn’t dump it. I stayed in. It was a pretty bold thing to do. Now, it ramped up again, nearly 2%.

10. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. During the “Am I Diversified” round, a club member noted that their top 5 portfolio holdings are SYM, CRM, VZ, COST, and GEV. In response, Cramer said:

I like this. Okay, so we got that automation, that’s a a great, tremendous theme. GE Vernova is the company that’s actually powering all the, they have all the turbines. They make the turbines that, when you see these nat-gas facilities for data center, that’s them, okay? That’s just them. Verizon, I hear you. I’m not as, I’m not as convinced.

I saw someone write this, a piece this week… I’m not as convinced that I need that yield. I like growth, but I’m willing to go with you on it. Costco, you’re so right. I mean… cheap gas, not so great for them. High gas, people sign up and get the card. That’s how we make our money. Salesforce, I don’t know about whether Marc’s going to be able to get it, go in the data center. This is going to be a hard own. We know that the long knives are out for software and that’s software. Software, automation, retail, turbine for data center and just plain old telephone… Good job. I like it.

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) provides CRM-focused tools that help businesses manage customer interactions, use AI agents, analyze data, collaborate, and run marketing, commerce, and field service operations.

9. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. A club member asked if they are diversified enough, and mentioned that AMZN, MSFT, NFLX, SAP, and SONY are their top 5 holdings. In response, Cramer said:

Alright, well, we’re going to have to do a little switch-up here. I know that a lot of people don’t want to hear it, but you see, Microsoft, I’m going to say that Microsoft’s too close to SAP, alright, because we’re having a lot of problems with both these companies. And I’m going to do something that actually is a little sacrilegious. I’m actually going to say we gotta get rid of both of them. They’re just not trading like, the way I want them to. Microsoft’s doing terribly. SAP doing terribly, but the companies themselves aren’t doing that bad. But I want you to be able to preserve some capital. I want a healthcare in here, okay? I want JNJ in this portfolio right now, ahead of the quarter. And I want a defense company, and here I’m going to put in RTX.

I think both are going to be better for you, and it’d be much more diversified that way. You’d have a pharma. You’d have the amazing conglomerate now that Amazon is, because it’s retail, but it’s also a lot of tech. We’re going to let Sony be in, and this is, look, I’m not, you know, it’s tough because you could say Netflix and Sony are the same, but Sony got movies, Netflix, we’re going to call it an entertainment company. But come to think of it, I would even have to swap out Sony. I’m sorry, I have to do so much work, but I’m trying to get people into GE Vernova, GEV, get a little data center. So I’m sorry to have to do such emergency surgery.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) develops software, hardware, and cloud-based solutions. The company provides products like Windows, Azure, Office, LinkedIn, and Xbox.

8. Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Starting the round of “Am I Diversified, ” a club member noted that their top 5 portfolio holdings are BG, FCX, HBAN, NVDA, and WMT. Cramer replied:

First, I want to say this is a portfolio that is doing so well that I am proud to have Johnny (the club member) on the show. NVIDIA, finally breaking out, great. This Freeport broke out for 20 points, a copper company broke out for 20 points. We got agriculture, we want that, okay? That’s good, Bunge… Walmart, okay, so Walmart has this incredible run, obviously retail, and is consolidating terrifically. And I like to own a regional bank… At the top of the show, I said the regionals maybe where the action is in 2026 because of takeovers. A bank, a tech, copper, Ag, retail, perfection. That’s what I want to see.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) provides banking and financial services, including consumer and business lending, deposits, payments, and wealth management. Additionally, the firm offers digital tools, investment services, equipment financing, and capital markets solutions.

7. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Noting that the stock is “well off its 52-week high,” a caller asked if it is wise to add to their position given the stock’s “continuous decline.” Cramer replied:

This is a very, very tough one. It’s one of the hardest stocks to value because we don’t know exactly what their balance sheet’s going to look like. They are, they plunged into the data center build at a time when I think a lot of people were saying maybe it was not a great call. I want to see the quarter. I know it doesn’t happen till June, but I just don’t like what I see developing away from Oracle that makes me feel like that they are the guys I want to bank on. That’s the problem. I mean, I saw CoreWeave today. Those guys are so, so good, and even though that stock’s up a lot, I actually like that one more than I like Oracle.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) provides cloud and on-premise software, databases, and IT infrastructure to help businesses manage operations.

6. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Cramer highlighted President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post about the company, as he commented:

Finally, I got one more, courtesy of President Trump’s post on Truth Social today, saying, “Palantir Technologies has… proven to have great war fighting capabilities and equipment. Just ask our enemies”… Palantir, of course, is the software company that specializes in taking data from various sources and combining that into a single platform to make crucial insights. They got their start doing surveillance and analytics for the Pentagon.

Stock’s gotten hammered lately, down nearly 40% from its high last October, thanks to the same AI displacement worries that have crushed the entire software cohort, even though they shouldn’t be lumped into it. I don’t know if the President’s post will be able to get Palantir out of this rut, but it sure doesn’t hurt, does it? I find it infuriating that this company keeps getting confused with regular old software companies. This company’s a close advisor to CEOs at major companies about how to change their operations in major ways. I have talked to many of their clients, and they are in awe of how Palantir has helped them. Did it get too expensive? Oh, momentarily, yes, but I think it’s worked its way back over time.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) develops data analytics and AI software platforms, including Gotham, Foundry, Apollo, and Palantir Artificial Intelligence Platform, that help organizations integrate, analyze, and act on complex data.

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