Cramer Says 2026 Market Punishes Laggards Harder Than 1999 as AI Winners Drive Record Highs
Updated
Updated · CNBC · May 11
Cramer Says 2026 Market Punishes Laggards Harder Than 1999 as AI Winners Drive Record Highs
1 articles · Updated · CNBC · May 11
Record closes in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq—up 0.19% and 0.10% Monday—are masking a market that Jim Cramer says is far harsher than 1999 toward companies that disappoint.
AI and data-center names are drawing concentrated buying, while stocks with even slight misses are being sold with unusual fear, leaving investors "unsafe at any level," Cramer said.
Abbott Laboratories has fallen 34% this year after a narrow earnings miss, and Danaher is down 27% after several weak quarters; Cramer said other medtech names have also hit new lows.
Cramer argued that makes the current market more extreme than the dot-com era: a narrow group of loved AI stocks is being bid up as non-tech names become deeply out of favor.
Is the market's brutal punishment of non-AI stocks creating a historic buying opportunity in sectors like healthcare?
With real earnings backing the AI rally, what is the black swan event that could actually derail it?
Can AI forecasting truly shield businesses from the severe penalties of even a minor earnings miss?