Jim Cramer on Netflix, Inc. (NFLX): 'I Bet This One Can Continue to Climb Over the Long Haul'

We recently published an article titled Jim Cramer Listed 20 Best Performing Stocks of the Last 20 Years. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) stands against the other stocks.

Discussing two decades of Mad Money, Jim Cramer took a moment to highlight the top-performing stocks since the show’s debut.

“This week we're celebrating the show's 20th anniversary, a little over a month late, but better late than never. Given that Mad Money’s been on the air for more than two decades now, I think it's worth going over the best-performing stocks during that period.”

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He pointed out that while the broader markets have posted impressive long-term gains, the Dow rising 272%, the S&P 500 climbing 358%, and the Nasdaq 100 soaring 1,182%, the show’s philosophy has not changed. He said, "I created this show because I believe you can beat the averages by doing the homework and picking great individual stocks." Two decades later, he feels even more strongly about that belief. According to him, investing in high-quality companies with long-term potential can outperform those indices.

“So, looking at every US-listed stock with a market cap of at least $1 billion and putting aside everything that came public after March 14th, 2005, the day of our first show, what are the biggest winners since Mad Money first went on the air? I've gotta tell you what, I love this list.”

He also said the results were unexpected and would surprise viewers. Cramer framed these companies as real-world evidence of the show's long-held thesis, that investors who commit to studying individual businesses and hold onto strong performers over time can generate significant returns. Cramer noted that since Mad Money's launch in March 2005, “These winners really represent the core thesis of the show that you can make a killing by picking the right stocks, doing the homework and sticking with the great ones.”

“Bottom line: When you look at the 10 best-performing stocks of the last 20-odd years, so many of these were gettable if you simply believed in your ability to pick stocks and stuck with them for the long haul.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 20 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episodes of Mad Money aired on April 28 and 29. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the fourth quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 hedge funds.

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).

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 144

Cramer started his list of winners over the last 20 years with Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) as he said:

“Last, but certainly not least, is Netflix, the best-performing major stock since the show first went on the air. This had a staggering 82,000% gain. You'd be rich by any stretch of the imagination, no matter almost how little you put in when we started the show. Netflix invented the entire streaming video category. It was back in 2005. They were still doing DVD rental by mail and this was another one that I think was incredibly obvious. Netflix has essentially won versus traditional media at this point, but they're not standing pat, not at all. Still improving the service as much as possible, which is why I bet this one can continue to climb over the long haul [buy, buy, buy].”

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is a streaming platform that provides a wide range of movies, television series, and original programming to millions of users around the world.

Overall NFLX ranks 1st on our list of the best performing stocks of the last 20 years according to Jim Cramer. While we acknowledge the potential of NFLX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. 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 NFLX 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.