On June 30<\/strong>, the “Mad Money” host told viewers that Intel<\/strong> is now his top pick<\/strong> in the market. He credited CEO Lip-Bu Tan with pulling off one of the sharpest turnarounds in recent times.<\/p>\n The timing stands out. Intel shares have more than tripled in 2026<\/strong>. Then, in the days right around Cramer’s call, it fell sharply<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n That combination is forcing a blunt question for investors. Is there still room to buy, or did the easy money already get made?<\/p>\n Cramer did not mince words.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Intel is currently my favorite stock. CEO Lip-Bu Tan has turned this company around,” he said on a Mad Money episode on June 30, CNBC reported. <\/p>\n That comment reflected a bigger point.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cramer told viewers that Wall Street is now rewarding companies that supply the AI boom and punishing the hyperscalers that fund it.\u00a0<\/p>\n He named Intel (INTC)<\/strong>, Micron <\/strong>(MU), Marvell <\/strong>(MRVL), SanDisk <\/strong>(SNDK), and AMD<\/strong> as the quarter’s biggest winners<\/strong>. <\/p>\n It is also worth noting that Cramer’s call has money behind it.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to CNBC, Cramer’s Charitable Trust<\/strong>, the portfolio behind the CNBC Investing Club<\/strong>, initiated a position in Intel on June 3.<\/strong> The Trust has also added to it twice since then.<\/p>\n JHVEPhoto / Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Intel’s turnaround has a clear starting point.\u00a0<\/p>\n In August 2025<\/strong>, the U.S. government disclosed a roughly 10% equity stake<\/strong> in Intel. NVIDIA followed weeks later with its own $5 billion investment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The first quarter of 2026 backed up that bet. Intel posted revenue of $13.6 billion<\/strong>, up 7%<\/strong> from the same quarter last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Non-GAAP earnings per share<\/strong> also came in at $0.29<\/strong>, far ahead of the estimate Wall Street had penciled in, according to the company’s SEC filing.<\/p>\n More AI Chip Stocks:<\/strong><\/p>\n Intel’s dual identity as a chip designer and manufacturer<\/strong> is also becoming a selling point.\u00a0<\/p>\n AMD relies almost entirely on Taiwan Semiconductor for production. Intel, by contrast, is building a more localized supply chain<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The supply chain is backed by federal subsidies<\/strong> and outside investment from Nvidia and SoftBank<\/strong>, according to TradingView.<\/p>\n Related: Jim Cramer turns bullish on health care stock after years of doubt<\/strong><\/p>\n That structural bet has already drawn outside money. In June, Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, disclosed a multi-million-dollar position in Intel.<\/p>\n Insiders have been buying too. Chief financial officer David Zinsner picked up 37,015 shares on June 1, 2026<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The purchase is part of a broader pattern of insider transactions leaning toward buying, 24\/7 Wall St reported.<\/p>\n Here is the complication. Intel closed at $120.35<\/strong>on<\/strong>July 2<\/strong>, down 6.54%<\/strong> over the prior five trading days. This happened even though the stock remains up more than<\/strong>205%<\/strong> for the year.<\/p>\n At that price, Intel trades at more than 150 times forward earnings<\/strong>. That leaves little room for a disappointing quarter.<\/p>\n Wall Street’s targets are scattered. The average consensus among 39 analysts is $100.18<\/strong>, well below where the stock trades now.\u00a0<\/p>\n Citi has been more confident at $130, and Bank of America raised its target to $160 from $135 on June 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not every desk is on board. Deutsche Bank<\/strong>‘s note pointed to Bank of America being cautious.\u00a0<\/p>\n KeyBanc<\/strong> has also warned of buyer exhaustion as the rally has stretched further than fundamentals alone would justify.<\/p>\n The risk is clear. A stock priced for such strong expectations has little cushion if a single quarter disappoints.\u00a0<\/p>\n That risk is compounded by Intel’s foundry business, which, although improving, has not yet proven it can turn a profit on its own.\u00a0<\/p>\n For readers weighing buying options, the practical takeaway<\/strong> is that Cramer’s endorsement is a signal about sentiment, not a guarantee about price.\u00a0<\/p>\n Investors who follow it should watch the same things the CNBC Investing Club is watching: 18A yields, the Apple and Terafab timelines, and whether second-quarter guidance holds up.<\/p>\n Related: Top Broadcom insider unloads eye-popping number of shares<\/strong><\/p>\n #Jim #Cramer #surprises #investors #favorite #stock #pick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jim Cramer has named plenty of favorite stocks over the years. His recent pick was trading in the low $20s less than a year ago. On June 30, the “Mad… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[246],"tags":[3052,1951,92,3051,26,91,5558],"class_list":["post-10573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","tag-cramer","tag-favorite","tag-investors","tag-jim","tag-pick","tag-stock","tag-surprises"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cramer says Lip-Bu Tan has “turned this company around”<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thestreet.com\/.image\/NDA6MDAwMDAwMDAzMTAyMjM1\/photo-3102235.jpg?profile=rss\")
Intel’s run from left-for-dead to market leader<\/h2>\n
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The valuation gap Cramer didn’t mention<\/h2>\n
What could keep Intel’s rally going<\/h3>\n
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Why some investors are staying cautious anyway<\/h2>\n