Jim Cramer on Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s Recent Legal Troubles: 'I Think That We're Going To Be Surprised'

We recently published an article titled Jim Cramer Says AI Is Back & Discusses These 10 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other stocks.

In a recent appearance on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer commented on how market sentiment towards AI appeared to be changing. "Yeah look, this is a moment where, if you have AI, we are now saying it's good," he said. "Remember we were sick of AI for a while and now AI's back," Cramer added.

He also commented on the current tensions between the US and China regarding AI and overall trade. The US has restricted sales of advanced AI chips to China, and to Cramer, the current environment "feels so much like Russia and United States from the Khrushchev time on, it really does." He added that US technology was superior to the Chinese, and when co-host David Faber pointed out that China was pushing out a lot of STEM graduates, Cramer replied: "We're four times smarter than they are. Our schools. Four times better."

The US AI chip sanctions have included restricting all but 18 countries from being able to acquire the latest AI chips. The laws were introduced under the Biden administration and Cramer's been their critic. When Faber asked him to explain the rules, called 'Diffusion Rules,' Cramer outlined:

"Okay so Biden picked 18 friends. 18 friendly nations that were allowed to get all the chips that they . . and then there was the next group, which was the not so friendly, which when look at, is a lot of EU countries which I always thought were friendly because of NATO, that kind of thing. . .Iceland, Mexico, not in there. And then there's just the enemies list."

Cramer added rather cryptically: "And some people now feel that they're going to offer licensing for a country which would really be bad. Worse than what Biden did."

He added:

"No they have got to get that changed because. . .if you go check, Jensen Huang did this . . .he did this huge tour, all around the world, to all these countries that are basically going to be denied and that are not friendly."

As for the impact of tariffs on economic growth, Cramer believes: "Well, we gotta see, this next quarter is the quarter where, everyone is so concerned."

Our Methodology

To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on May 1st.

For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 166

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the world's largest consumer electronics firm which has been caught dead center in the trade tensions between the US and China. The firm manufactures most of its most valuable product, the iPhone, in China. With President Trump levying high tariffs on imports from the Asian country, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been forced to diversify its supply chain. Cramer's remarks revolved around the firm's recent legal troubles:

"I was just, when you read that I immediately went to Apple to get comment they were I think a little blindsided there. I thought that was one of the most aggressive things I've ever heard a judge do. I don't know, that was, David, that was basically saying listen, we're referring this to criminal. We're referring you to Justice. It's criminal, it's not civil. It's more jail than fine when it's criminal. Criminal is bad. And you've often told me that jail bad, versus non jail."

"What you wanna hear from them, is that they've shifted enough iPhone business to India that they can make em in India and send em to America and then no one cares about if they come from China."

"I bet you they accelerate how fast they can do it."

"I think that we're going to be surprised, how about that, about how quickly they can, it's vital."

Overall AAPL ranks 4th on our list of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL 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 AAPL 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.