CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday that the artificial intelligence trade has become too noisy and unpredictable to aggressively put new money to work — at least for now.
“If you own too much tech, you’re going to be slaughtered, and you won’t even know what hit you,” the “Mad Money” host said. “For the moment, it’s time to go to other sectors. They can make you money, without the volatility.”
Semiconductor and AI-related stocks have come under pressure in recent weeks after surging to records earlier this year. Cramer argued it may be time to stop chasing every twist in the AI trade and instead focus on high-quality companies in other sectors.
“It makes me want to just find high-quality companies like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, or dig my teeth into FedEx and FedEx Freight, or scoop up some Honeywell and Boeing,” he said. Cramer’s Charitable Trust, the portfolio used by the CNBC Investing Club, owns all six companies.
Still, Cramer stressed that he is not abandoning artificial intelligence altogether.
He said he remains bullish on Club name Nvidia, arguing the chipmaker continues to dominate the data center market despite customers’ efforts to develop their own chips.
“Nvidia is at the heart of the data center,” Cramer said, saying it’s AI server racks are “the envy of the world and only AMD comes close.”
Cramer also reiterated his bullish stance on Intel ahead of the chipmaker’s earnings report, calling it a “triple play” because of its central processing unit (CPU) business, advanced chip-packaging capabilities, and its burgeoning third-party foundry business.
“Intel is a national treasure,” said Cramer, who also owns Intel for the Club.
Even so, Cramer said he is waiting for a broader washout in technology before adding meaningfully to the sector. Until then, he thinks investors are better off putting money to work in high-quality companies outside tech while they wait for more attractive entry points into AI stocks.
