Jim Cramer puts Intel above Nvidia in a high-conviction call, sending chip shares higher

Jim Cramer delivered one of his more aggressive stock calls in a June 11, 2026, segment on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, using his “Mad Dash” segment to rank Intel as the most important chip play in his coverage, ahead of Nvidia. The remarks came as shares moved sharply higher afterward, according to the report that circulated via Yahoo Finance and 247wallst.

In the segment, Cramer’s central message was that Intel should be considered the top semiconductor stock, a position he described as “more important than Nvidia.” The move was notable because Nvidia has been the focus of much of Wall Street’s attention for its leadership in accelerated computing and AI-related demand. By elevating Intel above Nvidia, Cramer was effectively indicating that he sees near-term catalysts and market structure improvements as outweighing the current narrative premium Nvidia has long carried.

The report said the timing followed a “massive double upgrade,” implying that market expectations for Intel were being revised upward by more than one analyst or with multiple positive rating changes. While the details of which firms upgraded, the prior and new ratings, and any target price adjustments were not included in the material provided for this story, the headline framing indicates the market response was connected to a broader shift in sentiment rather than a single, isolated view.

Cramer’s characterization of Intel as the “number one name” also reflects a common debate in semiconductors: whether the next phase of AI computing will be driven primarily by specialized accelerator providers, or whether manufacturing, platform execution, and capital investment will swing performance at the broader chip-stock level. Nvidia dominates the conversation around AI accelerators, but Intel’s stock often trades on confidence that it can translate process technology, product transitions, and foundry or packaging strategy into measurable share gains and improving profitability.

Sector context matters because chip stocks frequently react to updates in how quickly customers refresh hardware and how cost structures evolve across product cycles. Even when the AI spending theme remains intact, performance between companies can diverge depending on how much of the spending is captured by those firms, how quickly they ship competitive designs, and whether margins expand or compress. By putting Intel ahead in his ranking, Cramer was making a bet that Intel’s path to value creation is becoming clearer or more compelling to investors right now.

The limitations here are straightforward. The segment report described the move as one of Cramer’s most forceful calls of the year and referenced a large “double upgrade,” but it did not provide the specific upgrade actions, the analyst names, the numerical forecasts, or the underlying reasoning in the excerpt available for this review. It also did not specify what, if anything, Intel disclosed on the company side on that day, such as guidance changes, product milestones, or financial revisions.

What to watch next is whether the price action sticks and whether the upgrades come with concrete, trackable expectations. If analysts are raising targets based on improved timelines for next-generation products, better evidence of customer traction, or a clearer path to margin expansion, investors will look for follow-through in subsequent earnings reports and in supply and order indicates. If instead the upgrades are largely sentiment-driven, the relative performance gap versus Nvidia could narrow quickly as the market regains its usual focus on AI accelerator leaders.