CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday that as long as Apple makes the “greatest product in the world,” then he’s not giving up on the troubled stock. “The superior product is going to win,” Cramer said during “Squawk on the Street,” referring to the iPhone. “As long as they have the greatest product in the world, I’m going to support that company.” He touted Apple’s iPhone, which is also the company’s biggest money maker, for its dominant share in the global smartphone market. In fact, the iPhone took the No. 1 spot for smartphone sales globally in the first quarter of 2025, according to Counterpoint Research data from April. There’s a lot more that Cramer likes about Apple, though, which is why it’s been a long-time holding in his Charitable Trust. The company’s high-margin services division — which garners revenue from Apple Music, Apple TV+, warranties and search licensing deals — is a crown jewel as well. AAPL YTD mountain Apple (AAPL) year-to-date performance But Cramer’s bullishness on Apple over the past year has waned as the company faces headwinds that have weighed on shares. Case in point: The stock has dropped nearly 20% since the start of 2025, compared to the S & P 500′ s roughly 4% year-to-date advance. The index Thursday was knocking on the door of its record high close of 6,144 from February. Meanwhile, Apple is trading around $200 apiece and has a long road back to its December 2024 record-high close of $259. “They’re challenged on every front,” Cramer said — from muted iPhone sales growth due to weakness in China, to pressure from the White House to move its supply chain back to the United States, to a staggered rollout of its artificial intelligence suite, Apple Intelligence, over the past year. Wall Street had high hopes that new buzzy AI features would cause a much-needed iPhone upgrade cycle. That, however, has not been the case yet. Cramer wants Apple to partner or outright buy AI startup Perplexity because the iPhone maker desperately needs additional AI talent and technology. “I’m finding that the accuracy of Perplexity is extraordinary,” Cramer said during the CNBC Investing Club’s Morning Meeting livestream for members on Thursday. “I cannot be as bullish on Apple as I’d like to be without an acquisition being made because the buyback is not doing it.” In a Club analysis on Tuesday, we addressed the buyback conundrum. When pushed by colleague David Faber on air Thursday, Cramer said there’s only one way that he would rethink his position. “When Samsung takes some share from [Apple], then I will,” he explained. For now, however, Cramer doesn’t see that happening.
