CNBC’s Jim Cramer said that he’s not worried about the market taking a breather because the artificial intelligence boom remains powerful enough to keep driving stocks higher.
All three major indexes closed lower Thursday after the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 hit intraday highs earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 313 points, or 0.63%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.13% and the S&P 500 declined 0.38%. Still, Cramer said the pullback was healthy.
“We need a little rest. We want stocks to cool off,” the “Mad Money” host said, noting that many AI-related names have made “parabolic” moves in recent weeks.
Despite growing concerns around slowing consumer spending, weaker hiring, and geopolitical tensions, Cramer argued the market’s weakness looks more like a pause than the start of a prolonged downturn because the AI theme remains too strong to ignore.
“My faith in this market comes down to the opportunity to get you involved in what one of our guests tonight, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, correctly calls the fourth industrial revolution: artificial intelligence,” Cramer said, referencing his interview later in the show with Huang alongside Corning CEO Wendell Weeks.
Cramer said investors continue underestimating the scale of the AI-driven transformation underway across the economy. Its benefits have spread to a stack of interconnected industries from power generation, HVAC and semiconductors to cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity.
“Every one of these layers I just mentioned is like a giant American jobs program,” he said. “They all collectively have the power to keep the country’s economy humming.”
While Cramer acknowledged the market could see additional short-term weakness after a powerful rally, he argued the broader AI buildout remains intact and powerful enough to continue supporting stocks despite concerns about the Iran war lingering, interest rates and weakening consumer spending.
“Because you have to ask yourself, what do any of those have to do with the price to earnings multiples of Nvidia or Corning?” he said.
