Jim Cramer picks Meta and Microsoft as top AI stocks Quartz · Bloomberg / Getty Images Cris Tolomia Wed, October 7, 2026 at 7:20 AM EDT 2 min read META -0.41% MSFT +0.78% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Jim Cramer told viewers Tuesday that established technology companies represent the strongest opportunities in the AI investment cycle, singling out Meta Platforms and Microsoft as his top picks, according to CNBC.
"Because I think that a lot of things can possibly go right, I want to stick with the AI data center plays," Cramer said on "Mad Money." He noted worries that AI valuations have grown stretched and that the moment echoes the dotcom era, yet argued the right response is to concentrate on well-established companies whose management can keep discovering fresh applications for the technology.
On Meta, Cramer said he trusted CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his team to find ways to monetize AI spending through Muse, the company's AI product. Meta stock trades around $738. "I thought that Mark Zuckerberg and his dream team are brilliant and they'll figure something out," Cramer said.
On Microsoft, Cramer said he retained the stock even when it hit a 52-week low of $350 in June because he believed in CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood. "I thought, 'They're going to figure out this Copilot, and with their Azure web services business they're going to make a ton of money,'" he said. Microsoft stock now trades around $529, with Azure's performance and guidance in late July surpassing Wall Street expectations. Cramer's CNBC Investing Club holds shares of Meta and Microsoft.
He also flagged Advanced Micro Devices and Intel as semiconductor plays, Marvell Technology for its chips and fiber exposure, and CrowdStrike alongside Palo Alto Networks as cybersecurity names with AI-related upside. His Charitable Trust holds shares of Intel, CrowdStrike, and Palo Alto Networks as well.
Higher interest rates factored into Cramer's reasoning. He contended that AI-driven businesses stand out as one of the rare pockets of the market still capable of posting meaningful growth when borrowing costs are elevated. "When I query about 80% of the S&P 500 about what can possibly go right, I can't even think of anything for most of them," he said. "Sure, that can change when the war ends. Until then, though, the AI-related stocks give you the most opportunity for something to go right." He cautioned that the AI trade is not risk-free, warning that sentiment around the sector can overheat, and stressed that he is deliberate about keeping his portfolio spread across multiple positions.
Cramer's latest comments extend a streak of bullish positioning on AI infrastructure stocks. After attending Salesforce's Dreamforce conference, where he spoke with senior AI executives, Cramer said he came away believing AI spending would continue and that the broader investment cycle was unlikely to be derailed by safety concerns that had circulated in the industry. More recently, Cramer highlighted Meta and Microsoft as stocks that "fit the moment" amid rising oil prices and climbing Treasury yields, citing Meta's Muse product and Microsoft's Copilot momentum.
