Jim Cramer Says He May Quit Amazon for the Rival That Jumped 24% in a Month
Jim Cramer shocked viewers by questioning his loyalty to Amazon on live television after watching a Meta AI demo, and the timing landed against a backdrop of sharply diverging stock moves that has Wall Street debating which company controls the…
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Jim Cramer said it live on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on September 28, 2026, after seeing a demonstration of a new AI shopping capability from Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction): “I’m an Amazon guy, but maybe I shouldn’t be. This seemed impressive.” He made the comment during the full Squawk on the Street discussion on CNBC. He was speaking as a shopper, with his comment limited to his own buying habits.
Meta Gained 24% While Amazon Slid Into His Remarks
From August 28 to September 28, 2026, Meta rose 23.89%, from $577.61 to $715.62, according to CNBC. Over the same window, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 7.61%, from $266.43 to $246.15.
Since then, Amazon’s decline has narrowed. At the October 2 close, Meta traded at $728.08 and Amazon at $251.52. For the trailing month from September 2 to October 2, Meta is up 22.9%, and Amazon is down 1.36%. The gap is still wide, and both moves reflect factors beyond Cramer’s comments. Recent coverage has tied Amazon’s decline to concerns about Meta’s Muse AI, which The Wall Street Journal called Amazon’s “Muse Blues,” while Barron’s said those threats are “overstated.”
Why a Raincoat Search Puts Amazon’s Front Door at Risk
Cramer compared it to Amazon’s Rufus assistant, which he uses today: “Look, I want the cheapest raincoat, the quality raincoat.” What he now wants is an assistant that will “scour the world for the cheapest raincoat and then maybe I’ll go buy it.”
Structurally, an assistant that searches one retailer’s catalog is a feature of that retailer. An assistant that searches everywhere sits above every retailer. That threatens Amazon’s most valuable asset: being the default place shoppers start. That default supports Amazon’s $19.8 billion advertising business, which grew 26% last quarter and leads with sponsored products. Jim Cramer described the stakes this way: “I don’t know, I just feel like it’s 3 billion people that are up for grabs.” Meta already reaches 3.60B daily active people across its apps.
Amazon has its own answer. Management said over 350 million customers used Alexa for Shopping in the past 12 months, and that those users spend over 40% more per order. Meta launched Meta Enterprise the same morning Cramer spoke, and he said Meta has a “first mover advantage” in this area. None of this shows that either assistant performs better on any tested basis.
Fundamentals Behind Both Names
In Amazon’s second-quarter 8-K filing, AWS revenue rose 37% to $42.23B, its fastest growth in 18 quarters. Meta grew revenue 28%, but its EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.22 estimate, and it guided 2026 capex to $130-$145B. Meta trades at about 27 times earnings and Amazon at about 35.
Cramer’s Limit and What Would Have to Change
The comments came three days after Cramer listed Amazon on Mad Money as a recession-proof buy. He also set a firm limit on AI assistants: “If you really want to entrust it with your cash sweep, good luck. I wouldn’t do that.”
For Amazon to lose its position, shoppers would have to start their product searches somewhere else in large numbers. Investors can check for that in Amazon’s next earnings reports. Warning signs would include ad growth slowing from 26%, paid units growing more slowly than last quarter’s 17%, and lower engagement with Alexa for Shopping. On Meta’s side, the test is whether its agents start making purchases outside its own apps.
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After two decades of patrolling the dark corners of suburbia as a police officer, Rich Duprey hung up his badge and gun to begin writing full time about stocks and investing. For the past 20 years, he’s been cruising the markets looking for companies to lock up as long-term holdings in a portfolio while writing extensively on the broad sectors of consumer goods, technology, and industrials. Because his experience isn’t from the typical financial analyst track, Rich is able to break down complex topics into understandable and useful action points for the average investor. His writings have appeared on The Motley Fool, InvestorPlace, Yahoo! Finance, Money Morning, and, of course, 24/7 Wall St. He has been featured in both U.S. and international publications, including MarketWatch, Financial Times, Forbes, Fast Company, and USA Today.
