Jim Cramer: Apple Inc. (AAPL) Faces an “Existential” China Risk and Is “A Loser to Samsung
April 16, 2025
We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Sounds the Alarm on China Rhetoric and Dollar Panic Then Analyzes 11 Key Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against other key stocks that Jim Cramer analyzes.
In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer reacted to the partial tariff exemptions announced by the White House, interpreting them not as a full retreat, but as a strategic pause designed to avoid punishing American companies. He suggested the administration was being careful not to hand over competitive advantages to Southeast Asian rivals, particularly Samsung:
“So what I saw today, and not to be facetious, but what I see is people saying, you know what, we’ve seen the downside. Maybe we can test it again. But the president has, I don’t want to say blink, because that’s nonsense. What the president did was say, OK, look, we’re not going to continue to punish American companies and give the green light to Korea. I don’t know if you heard Lutnick’s words. He was very specific. Southeast Asia. That’s Samsung. They didn’t want to give the ball to Samsung.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Hints at a Bigger Agenda Behind Tariffs and Breaks Down These 7 Stocks and Jim Cramer Reacts to the Surprise Market Surge and Highlights 8 Key Stocks.
Turning to currency dynamics, Cramer pushed back on what he sees as misplaced panic over a weakening U.S. dollar. Instead, he argued that a softer dollar actually benefits American multinationals and gives long-needed relief to CFOs who’ve spent years blaming currency strength for lost market share:
“Well, look, I’m not so certain I’m going to do a little contrary stuff on the dollar here. When we listen to conference calls, for the last four years, all we hear about is it would have been so much better if the dollar weren’t so strong. We keep losing share, the dollar’s too strong. Suddenly the dollar’s weaker, and now we start hearing all the downside, what, the bonds? I mean, I’m almost thinking that, I’m gonna put this out there, the people who are saying that it’s the end of the world, that the dollar is weaker, I think they have to go do some work boots on the ground. […] So suddenly the dollar’s weaker and we are petrified? These are people who have an agenda. And their agenda is to say, you know what matters more than anything else? Our hegemony from a strong dollar. And I don’t get it. If you’re in our business of picking stocks, you’re sick and tired of hearing CFOs say, we are done. We’ve got to stop this dollar rise.”
Cramer also gave his opinion about the rhetoric coming from Beijing, likening it to the Cold War-era paranoia of the 1960s and ’70s. He questioned whether a diplomatic breakthrough similar to Nixon’s historic visit to China is even possible under the current tone of U.S.-China relations:
“But when I listen to the rhetoric from China, this is the 1968-72 rhetoric. It’s the kind of rhetoric that just says there’s never going to be a meeting. Is there a way to have a Nixon to China moment? Because as far as I’m concerned, this is just right now you’re on the verge of when I was a little boy and we kept thinking, when are they going to bomb us? I mean, that was the same rhetoric. When are they going to launch their nuclear weapons? I mean, that’s why we used to live in fear. That’s why we had cubbyholes. That’s why we used to put our heads in a cubbyhole, because the Chinese were going to bomb us if the Russians didn’t bomb us. This is the same sound.”
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 April 14th.
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).
A wide view of an Apple store, showing the range of products the company offers.
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 166
Jim Cramer spoke extensively about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the context of escalating U.S.-China trade tensions and the existential threat tariffs pose to the company’s supply chain and margin structure. He emphasized how vulnerable Apple is compared to competitors like Samsung, especially when government policies appear to be more favorable to foreign players. Here is what he had to say:
“Look, I can’t tell what really happened with Apple, other than the fact that if you wanted to take Apple down, you’d keep doing what they were doing. And the reason I say that, very specifically, is because Apple is a loser to Samsung. […]
A day earlier, Jim Cramer analyzed some of the risks that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) faces with the current regime. Here’s what he said last time:
“And I think that one of the things that’s happening is that people are just saying, look, it’s too crazy. I mean, Apple was up. Now, I could argue that Apple shouldn’t have ever been up, but Apple’s come down. There’s a sense that, like, OK, this thing may be for real. And if it’s real, then how can you own Apple? Why not go buy Samsung?
Overall, AAPL ranks 10th on our list of key stocks that Jim Cramer analyzes. 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.
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