Jim Cramer Says ‘Stay In, Keep Buying’ as S&P 500 Surges 118% From 2022 Low — Nvidia Turned $10,000 Into Nearly $200,000

Over the past four years, market volatility has given investors several reasons to exit their positions. However, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said those who stayed invested instead of selling have benefited from their patience.

Cramer Backs Staying Invested for the Long Term

The S&P 500 has climbed about 118% since hitting a low on Oct. 12, 2022, despite facing many challenges, including steep Federal Reserve interest-rate increases, a banking-sector crisis, broad tariff measures and the Iran war. The rally took shape when concerns over inflation and economic growth weighed heavily on sentiment, but these headwinds have failed to reverse the market’s upward trajectory, CNBC reported.

“No matter what the most important point is that the consistent invested. Putting money in work regularly, including Bad times in stocks and indices, is by far the best strategy towards wealth,” said Cramer on the show Mad Money.

Cramer noted that $10,000 invested in the S&P 500 when it reached its October 2022 low would have grown to nearly $23,061 currently. He also highlighted that several major tech stocks posted substantially stronger gains during the same period. Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares jumped about 1,875%, lifting a $10,000 investment to around $197,505, while Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) surged 488%, increasing the same initial investment to more than $58,800. Both companies are held in Cramer’s Charitable Trust portfolio managed by CNBC’s Investing Club, the report added.

“We could not have predicted even the big declines or the big rebounds,” said Cramer. “The bottom line, stay in, keep buying, don’t lose faith. Those are the lessons from this indomitable and intrepid four-year-old bull market.”

On Monday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, respectively, closed mixed. SPY fell 0.06% to $778.10, while QQQ declined 0.70% to $746.04. Meanwhile, the Dow tracker, State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE: DIA), ended 0.35% higher at $517.91.

Nvidia closed down 1.29% to $226.32 on Monday, while Meta rose 3.38% to $742.96. Year-to-date, Nvidia has soared around 21.35%, while Meta has surged about +12.55%.

Cramer Bullish on Meta

Cramer has called Mark Zuckerberg‘s Meta a "monster long" position after new user retention data for its Muse AI agent showed that Muse achieved initial user retention rates that approach those of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Last week, Cramer said that investors seeking exposure to the AI surge could look to major technology companies that have several avenues to gain from the rapid adoption of the new technology. He cited Meta and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) as two companies that fit this approach.

In the semiconductor space, Cramer pointed to Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), while also naming Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) for its exposure to chips and fiber. He also highlighted cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW).

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