Mad Money

Cramer: Facebook's troubles shouldn't weigh on the rest of FANG—or FAANNG

Key Points
  • "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer explains why a Facebook scandal shouldn't reflect poorly on its big-cap companions in the technology space.
  • Cramer examines the members of FAANNG one by one to show investors why they're still worth buying.
Facebook's issues shouldn't weigh on the rest of FANG—or FAANNG
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Facebook's issues shouldn't weigh on the rest of FANG—or FAANNG

With all the negative Facebook-Cambridge Analytica headlines, CNBC's Jim Cramer had to remind investors not to let the news reflect badly on all of the FANG stocks.

"You can't write off FANG because these are dynamic institutions. They're constantly evolving," the "Mad Money" host said on Wednesday, using his acronym for Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google, now Alphabet.

Elongating the acronym to FAANNG to include the stocks of Apple and Nvidia, Cramer went through the companies one by one to explain why they are still worth investors' time.

Facebook

Embroiled in a scandal related to data protection, Facebook needs to hire some top-notch legal representatives to help the company and the stock out of this mess, Cramer said.

Beyond that, Cramer wondered if outraged Facebook users even had a comparable platform to turn to. If they deleted their accounts, they would likely move to the Facebook-owned Instagram, he argued.

"Snap changed its format [and it's] not a good one. Twitter's not really a comparable product," he said. "The reason why people are so angry at Facebook is because it has virtual monopoly power over this portion of social media. That may eventually get them into trouble, ... but being a virtual monopoly is the definition of a high-quality problem."

Amazon

Cramer often finds himself surprised by the power of Amazon, an e-commerce, advertising and cloud services colossus valued at $768 billion.

"The more I learn about Amazon Web Services — and I've been working on it every single day — the more I realize that its competitors at Microsoft and Google and, to some degree, IBM just can't come close to Amazon's capabilities," he said.

"The latest growth spurt, though, came from people getting their heads around the idea that Amazon can be a huge player in the advertising equation," Cramer continued. "It's now a triple threat that bounces back faster than any other stock in the market."

Apple

Frequently under fire from technology analysts for its iPhone sales or issues with component suppliers, Apple the stock has become divorced from Apple the company, Cramer said.

"The thing is, that's the wrong way to analyze Apple," he argued. "I say take your cue from Warren Buffett, who talks about how Apple's customer satisfaction is off the charts and how it's ridiculous that the stock sells for 15 times earnings when, say, Procter & Gamble trades at 18 and Colgate at 21."

On Wednesday, shares of Apple remained under pressure after yet another negative analyst note about iPhone sales.

"But every time people sell this stock based on sales worries or China worries, we remember the annuity streams, the universality of the ecosystem, and the stock does bounce back," Cramer said.

Netflix

Cramer remembers when people debated whether Netflix was fairly valued at $37 billion. Now, it's valued at $137 billion, and Cramer has come to accept that the company simply has a globally beloved product.

"At the end of the day, the stock keeps surging because Netflix knows exactly what we want thanks to their huge data set and terrific artificial intelligence and the brain of the CEO, Reed Hastings," the "Mad Money" host said. "I wouldn't necessarily chase it, but on a pullback, it's fine."

Nvidia

Nvidia was once a leader in graphics processors. Today, with a valuation of $151 billion, the semiconductor giant is a leader in making chips for cars, the cloud, data mining, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

"This is serial greatness, and it's happening because CEO Jensen Huang is currently harvesting chips that he and his team dreamed up 10 or 20 years ago ... to handle an immense amount of data without running too hot," Cramer said.

Alphabet

Not too long ago, Cramer criticized Alphabet for not monitoring its subsidiary YouTube closely enough and letting normal advertisements appear alongside neo-Nazi videos.

But the Google parent has since fixed the YouTube problems, once again paving the way for advertisers to use its optimal search platform to their benefit, Cramer said.

"Alphabet remains the gold standard for the web, yet the stock's price-to-earnings multiple has been contracting because the company got too aggressive in its forecasts," he explained. "That's why it keeps getting hammered on its earnings reports and then comes back as people [forget] why they sold it."

Final thoughts

While secular growth names like these might not be the ideal stocks to buy in a strengthening economy, Cramer defended them for being dynamic and constantly evolving rather than static.

"When you only view these companies as what they are, not what they will be a year from now or five years from now or 10 years from now, you miss the whole story," the "Mad Money" host said. "Bottom line: in an incredibly challenged market, you actually may want to fall back on FAANNG. This group is not going away, it's just recharging in preparation for its next move higher."

WATCH: Cramer talks FAANNG after Facebook scandal, Fed hike

Cramer: Facebook's troubles shouldn't weigh on the rest of FANG—or FAANNG
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Cramer: Facebook's troubles shouldn't weigh on the rest of FANG—or FAANNG

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft.

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