For most of the summer, investors pulled money out of chipmakers and data center names and moved it into health care, banks, and retailers. The AI infrastructure trade led the market for two years. This summer, it underperformed.
Jim Cramer says that phase is over. On CNBC's "Mad Money," the host declared that the AI data center trade has regained market leadership. He pointed to some events over a few days that changed the setup, naming six stocks driving the rebound.
All six closed higher that session and are outperforming the S&P 500 so far in 2026. Here is what Cramer said, why it happened, and what investors should watch before chasing the move. Cramer's argument rests on one idea: These stocks did not fall because the businesses were broken.
The six stocks had posted smaller gains than financial, health care, and retail stocks for several weeks. Then, on Wednesday, Aug. 12, all six rose together in a single trading session. Cramer said the size of that one-day move made it one of the most important sessions he'd seen for the group.
Bank of America tweaks CoreWeave stock forecast after earnings 'Big Short' Michael Burry takes aim at surging AI stock Intel's $20 billion stock sale has surprising upside The sell-off had a specific cause. Leopold Aschenbrenner's hedge fund, Situational Awareness, peaked near $45 billion in early July. It then took margin calls from its prime brokers and sold its leveraged stock portfolio to Ken Griffin's Citadel at a discount, CNBC reported.
The stocks fell because a leveraged fund was forced to sell, not because the companies reported weak earnings. That's an important distinction. A forced sale says nothing about whether a business is doing well.
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