Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR): Jim Cramer Pulls Back - "It's Not the Kind of Stock I'd Buy Right Now"

We recently published a list of How Did Jim Cramer’s 12 Bold Predictions Play Out?. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed.

During the most recent episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer revisited the recent turbulence in artificial intelligence stocks, three months after the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI firm that initially rattled markets. He noted that despite the broad pullback in the sector, many of the fears triggered by DeepSeek’s debut have not materialized, which has led to a reconsideration of the panic that followed.

“Three months ago, January 23rd is a day that will live in artificial intelligence infamy. That’s when we learned that a Chinese firm called DeepSeek had figured out a way to train high quality generative AI models using far less hardware. They claim their hardware costs were around $6 million versus $80 to $100 million for their enormous American competitors.”

READ ALSO: Did Jim Cramer Nail All These 9 Stock Predictions? and What Happened After Jim Cramer Talked About These 13 Stocks.

The announcement sent shockwaves through the market. Cramer recalled how NVIDIA saw its stock fall sharply over just two trading sessions. The market reaction spread quickly beyond and hit other companies tied to data center infrastructure, which eventually pulled down the broader Nasdaq. However, Cramer noted that the company then revealed plans to build $500 billion worth of AI infrastructure in the United States over the next four years.

Cramer noted that initially, it seemed to signal a renewed sense of stability. But soon after, the administration imposed a ban on selling AI chips to China, which forced the GPU kingpin to write down $5.5 billion tied to that entire initiative. Even so, Cramer emphasized that the company’s core business remained strong.

“We understand that they’re basically sold out for the year, even as they can only sell their best stuff in the United States and the 18 friendly countries.”

Cramer attributed the export restrictions to a policy from former President Biden, one that President Trump has not reversed. Despite the geopolitical constraints, Cramer stressed that demand for the company’s technology is still overwhelming. He argued that the stock never should have experienced such a steep drop in the first place. He added:

“Even with the trade war, the AI infrastructure theme seems totally back on track. In fact, it never left the track to begin with.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 12 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money on April 30, 2024. We then calculated their performance from April 30^th, 2024, market close to April 29^th, 2025, market close. We have also included the hedge fund sentiment for the stocks, which we sourced from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database of over 900 hedge funds. The stocks are listed in the order that Cramer mentioned them.

Please note that this article mentions Jim Cramer’s previous opinions and may not account for any changes to his opinions regarding the stocks that are mentioned. It is primarily an examination of how his previously provided opinions have panned out.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 31

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR), the parent of Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons, was discussed in-depth during an interview with its executive chairman, Patrick Doyle, following a strong quarterly earnings report back then. Cramer was a fan of the restaurant brand at the time, based on his comments:

“On a hideous day, you know what’s escaped the gravitational pull of the market? Restaurant Brands International. The quick serve giant that owns Burger King, Popeyes, Tim Horton’s and Firehouse Subs. This morning the company reported a fantastic quarter, finishing the day up nearly 3% during a real bad tape. That said, it’s still down almost 3% for the year. Can it keep climbing? […]

Obviously we’ve got to talk about Burger King. $11.5 billion in sales – look still good comps, I don’t want to get down on it because a competitor of Burger King is not doing as well in terms of comps as Burger King but obviously you’re still not happy with how it should be doing! […]

Well, I want to salute you, you’ve delivered on everything as I knew you would and it’s just obviously still work in progress as you get those Burger King looking nicer, put some more Popeyes up around the world. And Tim Hortons, what can I say, operating hitting on all cylinders but I know that’s probably still not enough for you.”

Despite Cramer’s optimism from a year ago, the stock has fallen by 13.58% since.

However, the host of Mad Money has changed his stance on the company recently. Here are his comments from April 4^th:

“You know someone recommended today, the Burger King stock . . .QSR, and you know I’m not, it’s not what I’m in favor of to go to those stocks but that’s what you have to do.”

Overall, QSR ranks 10th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of QSR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than QSR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.