Jim Cramer started his Charitable Trust in 2005 with $3 million of his own money. According to CNBC, Cramer’s own investment is at risk, and the trust distributes its investment income and realized capital gains to charity. The CNBC Investing Club gives subscribers a way to follow that portfolio. Members can see how much of it Cramer has committed to each stock, when he adds to a position or sells shares, and how he and his team explain those decisions. For investors who count on dividend checks, it’s worth a closer look at which of those companies kept paying shareholders even when business slowed.
Disseminating his investing lessons on Mad Money, Cramer described one way he builds the trust’s cash reserves. When a stock rallies, he sometimes sells part of the position. If the shares keep climbing, the trust still owns shares it can sell at a higher price. If the market falls, he has money to buy companies he likes better. He went on to say:
I’m saying I believe it’s essential to raise some cash during or after a rally, emphasis on some. Really, that’s the goal. I don’t care how much you like your stocks. Not selling something to raise cash when the market’s making it easy for you is downright reckless. With the Charitable Trust, I’ve taken my cash position at times up to around 20% when I sense too much euphoria. When the market eventually pulled back, put that… cash back to work in stocks we liked a lot more than the ones we previously sold.
By September 1, the trust held more than 15% in cash, and Cramer was cutting its exposure to data centers. In the same month, he singled out one chip designer he wished the trust had held on to longer, even though it had made a sizable profit on the shares. On November 11, he acknowledged that some of the shares he had sold were already trading higher. He still expected AI spending to grow. What concerned him was how many businesses in the portfolio depended on the same construction boom, from chipmakers to suppliers of networking and cooling equipment. He was willing to miss some of the upside to bring that risk down.
Methodology
We identified 10 stocks Jim Cramer has publicly said the Charitable Trust owns. For each, we examined what he told viewers about the investment and the business developments shareholders have had to weigh since. We listed the stocks in ascending order of the hedge fund sentiment of each stock, according to Insider Monkey’s Q2 database of over 1000 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. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 612% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 375 percentage points (see more details here).
Inside Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust: 10 Stocks He Actually Owns
10. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) signed an agreement on November 3 to acquire Fiddler AI, which helps companies monitor how their AI agents behave. On the same day, the company announced a Falcon Guardian feature that can shut down an unauthorized AI agent and block it from running again. For a company letting software act on its behalf, those tools address two needs. A security team may have to stop an action immediately and then find out why the agent attempted it.
Subscriptions generated $1.40 billion of CrowdStrike’s $1.47 billion in fiscal second-quarter sales. Annual recurring revenue, the yearly value of its recurring business at quarter-end, rose 25% to $5.84 billion. It is worth noting that the company recorded a $33.2 million operating loss under standard accounting rules.
Cramer was already taking profits in cybersecurity in August, when he explained how he had handled the trust’s stakes in CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks. On October 1, Cramer said the trust still owned CrowdStrike after the shares rallied 39% in the third quarter. He described what he thought buyers were beginning to appreciate about cybersecurity as other software stocks also recovered.
9. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is selling companies a way to test their defenses continuously. On September 22, its Unit 42 security team introduced a service that uses AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI to look for weaknesses, test whether an attacker could exploit them, and help security teams prioritize repairs. For customers accustomed to commissioning periodic security reviews, the reason to pay for ongoing testing is that changes to a network can introduce fresh vulnerabilities between reviews.
Palo Alto’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenue rose 34% to $3.41 billion. The annualized recurring value of its next-generation security business reached $9.10 billion, but operating income under standard accounting rules fell to $172 million from $497 million a year earlier. The November 18 earnings release will give investors a first look at whether operating income recovered in the new fiscal year.
A Mad Money caller wanted Cramer’s opinion of SentinelOne. Cramer already owned Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike through his Charitable Trust, so the question for him was what a third security stock would add. In answering, he went a step further and considered whether the trust needed both stocks it already owned.
8. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) booked 165 commercial jet orders in October, including 140 737 MAX jets for aircraft lessor Avolon. It delivered 49 airplanes, down from 57 in September. The slowdown matters for cash flow because customers pay the outstanding balance just before or at delivery.
Boeing ended September with more than 6,300 commercial airplanes on order and a companywide backlog of $745 billion. Even with that much business lined up, it generated $464 million in free cash flow in the third quarter and posted a $116 million net loss.
When a Mad Money caller asked about aircraft-parts maker HEICO on September 29, Cramer liked the business. It is worth noting that owning Boeing in his Charitable Trust had convinced him to wait for a change outside the factories before recommending aerospace stocks.
7. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)
Cramer’s Charitable Trust upgraded Wells Fargo & Company after its October earnings report sent the shares lower. The bank earned $1.87 per diluted share in the third quarter, up from $1.66 a year earlier, as revenue rose and noninterest expenses fell. Wells Fargo set aside $1.03 billion for credit losses, up from $681 million a year earlier.
Since the Federal Reserve lifted its $1.95 trillion cap on Wells Fargo’s assets in 2025, the bank has had room to lend more. In the third quarter of 2026, its loans averaged $1.03 trillion, about $105 billion more than a year earlier. The larger loan book helped lift net interest income 5% to $12.52 billion. Analysts had expected $12.63 billion. Higher deposit costs and lower rates on floating-rate assets weighed on net interest income.
In April, Cramer thought Wells Fargo shares might be close to a bottom. The stock was cheap, but what he found in the bank’s loan book left him cool on a holding he had once praised as a turnaround. When the shares fell after October earnings, Cramer pointed to a change Charlie Scharf had made inside the bank that helped explain why the trust was willing to upgrade it. He said:
When Wells reported yesterday morning, I have to tell you, they delivered a revenue miss, but it was paired with a 2-cent earnings beat off a $1.85 basis. That gave them 13% earnings growth. That’s nice growth for a bank. Their net interest income came in a tad light, as did their non-interest income. Could have been worse, though. Wells saw its net interest margin, what they make off the difference between the interest they pay you for deposits and the interest they charge you for loans, actually stabilize and came in slightly higher than expected. That’s a really good sign. I’ve been waiting for this to happen. These guys had missed the net interest margin estimates for nine of the past 10 quarters. They said this number would stabilize, and that’s what they delivered. I thought that was very positive.
What else? Wells saw some good numbers from its small but growing investment banking division. They’re taking share in equity capital markets, although their trading business took a hit and their wealth management unit came up a bit short. That said, Wells continues to perform well on the cost control front. Its efficiency ratio… that’s cost divided by revenues, came in at 63%, down from 65% a year ago. Keep in mind, with the efficiency ratio, lower is better. Charlie Scharf, the CEO, has really cut the headcount here. This bank is running very well. In the end, though, the stock still dropped 3% yesterday because, you know, sure, it did stabilize today, but tough for Wall Street to forgive that revenue miss. But I think we’re getting a viable pullback here, which is why we just upgraded Wells Fargo for the Charitable Trust.
6. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) said on November 4 that more than 185,000 people were using Agentforce Coworker, its AI assistant for business users, and that usage had grown 21-fold in three months. The distinction between usage and revenue matters for a company that has traditionally charged customers by the employee. If AI helps a sales team do more work with fewer people, Salesforce can still earn more from that account when it charges for the work its software performs.
Salesforce’s fiscal second-quarter revenue rose 11% to $11.3 billion, including $456 million from its acquisition of Informatica. Revenue under contract and expected to be recognized within 12 months reached $33.5 billion, up 14%. That figure covers the wider business, including products customers were buying before Agentforce.
In September, Cramer told viewers his Charitable Trust owned Salesforce. What interested him was what a salesperson could learn from customer records already sitting in the system. On October 29, Cramer said Salesforce shares had fallen largely because investors were worried about ServiceNow’s earnings. He pointed out that Salesforce charges per user for some marketing products and had introduced pricing based on usage for Agentforce.
5. GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV)
GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) agreed on October 28 to buy Trench Group, one of its suppliers, for the equivalent of $9 billion. Trench makes high-voltage equipment used to move electricity across the grid. Buying it would give GE Vernova more control over the supply of components its electrification business already needs. The company expects to fund the purchase roughly equally with cash and debt, with closing expected in late 2027.
Demand for equipment to generate that electricity is also running years ahead of delivery. GE Vernova ended the third quarter with 122 gigawatts of gas power equipment covered by firm orders or agreements to reserve manufacturing slots. It is significant to consider because a customer can reserve a slot before placing a firm order. Across the business, quarterly revenue rose 27% to $12.6 billion. A drop of nearly 9% after earnings in July hit close to home for Cramer, who told viewers how much GE Vernova mattered to his Charitable Trust, as he said:
I see today’s decline, actually, yes, indeed, as a buying opportunity, but Wall Street can’t seem to look past the earnings miss. I would say this, though: if GE Vernova keeps getting hammered, you’ve got my blessing to keep buying it on weakness, and you might find my Charitable Trust buying right alongside you, even as we have a much lower cost basis from long ago.
In October, a caller wanted to know whether problems with the data-center buildout might hurt Vertiv, a supplier of power and cooling systems. Cramer took GE Vernova as his starting point and explained when he would buy Vertiv for exposure to the same boom.
4. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) entered the holiday quarter with a new way to test how much customers will pay for a hardware upgrade. Its redesigned MacBook Pro began reaching customers on November 6 with a touchscreen OLED display. U.S. prices start at $2,899 for the 14-inch model and $3,399 for the 16-inch model. Sales of those laptops will first show up in the December quarter.
The iPhone had already set a September-quarter sales record, helping lift Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenue 12% to $114.5 billion. Services revenue also reached a record. For shareholders, the appeal of a hardware upgrade extends beyond the purchase itself. A customer who sticks with an iPhone can keep paying for storage, apps and subscriptions for years between purchases.
Cramer defended his Charitable Trust’s longstanding Apple stake in July, when investors were weighing the company’s AI strategy. By September, Apple shares had already rallied after the iPhone launch, but he thought one model could still surprise investors with the demand it could draw.
3. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)
Micron Technology, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:MU) customers have been making multiyear commitments to secure memory chips. Micron is making commitments of its own further up the supply chain. On October 20, it agreed to fund an expansion of Indium Corporation’s refining and manufacturing operations in Rome, New York. The companies also plan a long-term supply agreement that would give Micron access to high-purity materials used in chipmaking. The investment is part of the company’’s broader plan to spend up to $3 billion on its U.S. supply chain.
Micron’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenue rose to $54.23 billion from $11.32 billion a year earlier. In past memory cycles, a shortage could send profits soaring just before new supply arrived. On its September 30 earnings call, the company estimated that 26 signed customer agreements would account for more than 35% of its revenue through 2030. Cramer had visited Micron in August. By the time he discussed the stock again, one number had changed enough since his visit to make him question whether the old pattern still fit.
During the October 7 episode of Mad Money, a Western Digital shareholder who had bought on the way down asked Cramer whether to wait for a recovery. Cramer had once owned a sizable stake himself, but his advice to the caller turned on how Western Digital compared with Micron.
2. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) put its balance sheet behind another company’s AI expansion on November 4. Data-center developer TeraWulf disclosed that Google had agreed to cover certain obligations under Anthropic’s leases at a Kentucky campus. Once the guarantees take effect, a default by Anthropic could leave Google paying overdue rent and taking over the affected lease. Under certain conditions, Google could instead pay a termination fee that would entitle it to acquire a stake in the TeraWulf subsidiary that leases the site.
Google Cloud revenue more than doubled to $30.7 billion in the third quarter. Google Search and other revenue grew 12%, while search queries recorded their fastest year-over-year growth in five years. Query growth answers one question for shareholders about whether people still turn to Google. How much advertising revenue Google earns when AI answers a question directly is harder to judge from those figures.
On September 3, Cramer said Alphabet’s 9% gain for the year left the stock looking cheap. He pointed to Google Cloud’s rapid growth and YouTube’s reach, then explained why he liked the shares at $342 even as investors who bought in the recent stock offering were sitting on losses. His Charitable Trust still owned Alphabet after its October 28 report, though the results left him less comfortable with the outlook for search.
1. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is making room for other companies’ chips inside data centers built around its technology. On November 9, Korean chip designer Rebellions announced plans to connect its next-generation R200 processors to NVIDIA systems using NVLink Fusion. SK Telecom plans to deploy the systems. That gives NVIDIA a way to sell the technology that connects processors even when a customer chooses another company’s chip to run an AI model.
Data centers accounted for $89 billion of NVIDIA’s $96.2 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue. With about 92.5 cents of every sales dollar coming from that business, a project that fails to get built can matter even when customers want the chips. On November 9, Cramer still considered NVIDIA a buy, but he thought local opposition at the ballot box could slow construction of new data centers.
Cramer had discussed owning NVIDIA through his Charitable Trust on July 1. On September 28, NVIDIA added $150 billion to its existing share repurchase authorization. He welcomed the size of it but had a more pointed message for management about when to start buying shares.
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