AI split Cramer club holdings as cyber stocks surged and Intel slipped

AI is still moving individual stocks, but investors are getting pickier about which companies deserve the premium, according to CNBC Investing Club. Since the club’s June 17 monthly meeting, cybersecurity names and AI monetization stories led its portfolio, while some chip and transport-related holdings lost ground.

CNBC said the broader market rose over the same stretch through Wednesday’s close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.3% and reached a record on July 6 before easing, while the S&P 500 rose 2.1% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1%.

The split matters for everyday investors because “AI exposure” is no longer being treated as one single trade. Wall Street is rewarding companies that can show how artificial intelligence can generate revenue or drive customer spending, while punishing names that have already run hard or face company-specific doubts.

Cybersecurity became an AI winner

CNBC Investing Club said Palo Alto Networks climbed 25.5% and CrowdStrike rose 21.7% since the prior monthly meeting, with both stocks reaching record highs during the period.

The reason, according to CNBC, is a shift in how investors view AI’s effect on cybersecurity. Earlier in the year, the concern was that AI could disrupt security software providers. More recently, investors have treated AI-powered cyber threats as a reason companies may spend more on protection.

CNBC said that view gained support after Anthropic’s Mythos models raised fresh worries about AI-enabled cyberattacks in April. The rally continued after The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese AI models were approaching top U.S. systems in their ability to detect software vulnerabilities, according to CNBC.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna also helped sentiment, CNBC said, after identifying cybersecurity as one of three areas where companies are giving priority to information technology spending while IBM preannounced disappointing second-quarter results.

CNBC Investing Club said it trimmed Palo Alto and CrowdStrike after the move, citing gains of nearly 150% in Palo Alto and 105% in CrowdStrike while keeping long-term confidence in both companies.

Meta and Apple got more credit for AI plans

Meta rose 20% over the period, according to CNBC Investing Club, after investors became more comfortable with how the Facebook and Instagram parent could make money from its AI spending.

CNBC said Meta announced plans for a cloud business that would rent excess computing capacity to outside customers. The company also introduced AI tools for developers and advertisers, which CNBC described as a move toward charging for more AI capabilities.

Reuters reported that Meta plans to begin making its custom AI chip later this year. CNBC said a Bank of America analyst viewed the effort as a potential source of cost savings, lowering the firm’s estimated cost per gigawatt of computing capacity from about $45 billion to closer to $22 billion.

Apple gained 10.7%, CNBC said, as investors warmed to its AI strategy. Earlier this year, Apple announced a multiyear partnership with Alphabet to bring Google’s Gemini into Apple Intelligence, which CNBC said eased worries that Siri had fallen behind rival assistants.

CNBC said Apple’s June Worldwide Developers Conference also supported the idea that Apple can compete in AI through user experience across its roughly 1.5 billion iPhones, rather than by building the most advanced model itself. Apple closed at a record high Wednesday, according to CNBC.

Intel, FedEx Freight and Qnity lagged

Intel fell 15%, CNBC Investing Club said, as investors moved out of some semiconductor stocks after earlier gains. CNBC said Jim Cramer’s charitable trust added to its Intel position Wednesday, and Cramer called Intel his favorite portfolio stock because of its central processing unit opportunity in AI and its foundry business. Intel remained up more than 170% for 2026, according to CNBC.

FedEx Freight dropped 12.4% after becoming an independent company in early June, CNBC said. The club attributed the weakness partly to post-spinoff selling by shareholders who received the stock through the separation. CNBC said the company’s first standalone earnings report showed revenue and operating income above expectations, while margins were hurt by fuel surcharge pressure.

Qnity Electronics declined 10.5%, according to CNBC, giving back some gains as semiconductor stocks cooled. CNBC said the slide accelerated after Samsung Electronics, Qnity’s largest customer, reported results that raised questions about demand for Samsung’s products. Qnity was still up roughly 70% for 2026, according to CNBC.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.