Why stocks like Salesforce, Adobe may still lag
CNBC’s Jim Cramer marveled Thursday at the divergent fates of tech stocks — hardware winners and software losers — and suggested it might stay that way for a while.
This division was one of the dominant themes of the market in 2026 before the Iran war broke out on February 28. Although the conflict was paused by a “fragile ceasefire,” the buy hardware, sell software trade is back in full force, Cramer said.
“I’m talking about hardware stocks and the enterprise software empire being brought down by artificial intelligence,” the “Mad Money” host said. “This war in technology has fascinated Wall Street more than the actual war in Iran.”
Thursday’s market action paints a clear picture, according to Cramer.
Look for poor performance in software names. sales force And Adobe fell approximately 3% and 4% respectively. Cramer said there was a decline of more than 4% in the session. IGV software ETFThis report, which was a reference point for the industry, was also a read on investor sentiment. “This ETF is the primary way large institutions are betting on or betting against software,” he added. This also means that even non-traditional software stocks like cybersecurity are taking a hit simply because they’re in the fund. Case in point: CrowdStrike It fell 7.5 percent on Thursday.
On the other side of the trade is hardware.
Those supporting large-scale development of data centers and AI infrastructure are the companies “killing it,” Cramer said. semiconductor players Marvel Technology And Intel Both gained around 5% during the session. shares CorningShares of the company, which produces materials for data centers, increased by 2.85%.
“If you’re in camp, you’re treated like you’re ready for the embalmer,” Cramer said. “If you’re in the hardware and AI camp, you’re heading into the pantheon of greatness.”
Cramer said that, looking forward, this trend does not seem to change anytime soon. “The bottom line is that maybe tomorrow we’ll be back to the worldwide narrative, whether it’s war or peace in the Middle East,” he said, in a nod to the conflict-driven stock moves that have captivated the market for the past five weeks.
Cramer continued: “But for now, just another day like Cain, where hardware replaces software, killed Abel, and all I can do is get used to it.”
