Markets are trembling amid the latest AI stock sell-off, which has sent shares of major AI players deep into the red. But CNBC's Jim Cramer believes the downturn is not another dot-com crash.
Cramer warned that AI stocks could fall further, particularly semiconductor companies whose shares surged during the AI boom. However, he argued that unlike the speculative businesses that collapsed in 2000, many of today's AI companies are highly profitable.
His biggest concern is smaller AI infrastructure companies such as CoreWeave, Iren and Nebius, which have borrowed heavily to finance data center projects that could face regulatory delays.
Before the election too, Cramer was more careful about tech. On Mad Money, he said the Nasdaq had just closed its worst month since March 2025 and that the week ahead "might be even worse." He said he wanted to see a "crescendo" before putting more money into tech, which he described as stocks getting crushed in the morning and then rallying on big volume to finish higher. He also warned that anti-data center politicians could stop projects if Democrats took control, and data center stocks fell on Wednesday on fears of tighter AI regulation, Reuters reported.
We recently ranked 10 stocks Cramer sounded positive about, based on his posts on X and his comments on CNBC. Check the full list here. Cramer and billionaire Ken Fisher also like many of the same stocks, and we ranked the top 10. See the top 10 here.
Methodology
For this article, we scanned Jim Cramer's X feed and watched his latest Mad Money programs on CNBC to pick 10 stocks he sounded positive about. We ranked them in ascending order by the number of hedge fund holders at the end of the second quarter of 2026, according to Insider Monkey's database of 1,006 hedge funds.
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#10 Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) is Cramer's favorite stock in the apparel sector, he said in a recent program on CNBC. He has held that view for the past couple of years under CEO Patrice Louvet. Cramer said sales grew at a 13% compound annual rate over the past five full fiscal years, and adjusted earnings per share grew at a 57% rate. The shares are up 380% from their late 2022 low, compared with about 110% for the S&P 500. Cramer said the company cut wholesale channels that hurt the brand and focused on direct-to-consumer sales, which improved gross margins. The stock fell in late August and September when consumer names dropped on rising oil prices, and it has since recovered.
"You're basically getting that last quarter, which is really so good for free,"
Cramer has also talked about Ralph Lauren next to Williams-Sonoma, another retailer he likes. Click to read what he said.
#9 Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64
Cramer likes Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) and has said he thinks the company is coming back under CEO Brian Niccol. Starbucks shares fell about 3% after the Financial Times reported on Oct. 8 that the company had explored a bid for Chipotle, Reuters reported. On Oct. 12, Cramer said on CNBC that he had worked with Niccol over the weekend and could confirm that Starbucks is not going to buy Chipotle.
Starbucks reported its fiscal fourth-quarter results on Oct. 29, and U.S. comparable sales rose 7.7%. Cramer named Starbucks among the stocks he favored the next day, CNBC reported. Starbucks ranks tenth on our list of the top 10 stocks Cramer and billionaire Ken Fisher like, and Fisher Asset Management added to its stake in the second quarter. Click to see the bull and bear case. His charitable trust is long Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX).
#8 Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 86
Cramer defended Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR), the data analytics software company, against talk that its business is slowing. In a recent post on X, he said people are claiming a slowdown in Palantir's business, and he does not see how anyone can say that unless they want the stock lower. "I do not know how anyone can say that unless they want it lower," he wrote. In another post on Nov. 3, he said the negativity toward Palantir, Apple and Marvell was heavy. Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) is one of the stocks he is backing against the selling. It is also one of the 10 stocks Cramer sounded positive about in our latest list, which we ranked by hedge fund interest. Open the full list here.
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) is notoriously overvalued on conventional metrics, with a forward P/E of about 103. But bulls say the growth makes up for it. The company recently reported quarterly results, and in that quarter revenue grew 96% from the same quarter a year ago, with U.S. commercial revenue up 148%. Adjusted operating margin was 62% in the quarter, and adjusted operating income grew faster than sales. Analyst consensus has earnings per share growing 43% next year and 42% the year after. Bulls also expect analysts to raise their estimates after the report, which would lower the P/E without the stock moving. Palantir makes a lot of free cash flow, so they see room for buybacks. The risk is that growth slows. At this multiple, even a small slowdown in commercial sales could hurt the stock. That is what the price of Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) assumes.
#7 CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 89
CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) sells cybersecurity software, and Cramer has been positive on it all year.
"Working on this CrowdStrike, I can't believe how badly the darned thing is needed," he wrote on X on Oct. 26. On Sep. 2, he wrote that CrowdStrike "is in the best part of the AI trade right now." In July, he said companies must have the best cybersecurity available and named CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks. On Apr. 23, when software stocks fell, he wrote that cyber stocks "should not be sold; they are the buys today." CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) is one of the cyber names he keeps coming back to. Jacob Funds added the stock as a new position in its Jacob Internet Fund in the first quarter of 2026. Check the full letter here.
#6 The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 90
Cramer weighed in on Boeing (NYSE:BA) on X on Oct. 28. "Boeing got the kitchen sink today and people don't see that," he wrote. "Kitchen sink" is a Wall Street phrase for a company taking all of its bad news at once. His post suggests he thinks Boeing (NYSE:BA) already absorbed a lot of bad news in one day. Cramer has also said he was impressed by how Boeing's shares caught up. Click to read his comments.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) recently reported quarterly results, and the stock fell about 11% because revenue and earnings missed estimates and the cash flow recovery is taking longer than planned. Bulls say the recovery is still on track. Operating cash flow rose 33%, and free cash flow was positive even after settlement payments to the Justice Department. The 737-7 and 737-10 are now certified, which removes two big uncertainties. The services business lifted its margin to 18.3%, and new union contracts for engineers and technicians run through 2030.
Click the image below to watch our video featuring the rest of the top 5 stocks in this list. Prefer reading? You can also click here to read the full article featuring the top 5 stocks.
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