Cramer: What Apple should do to make investors fall in love with it again

It is no secret that investors no longer love Apple (AAPL) like they used to. Jim Cramer believes the tech titan should put that massive $231 billion cash hoard to work and buy Sirius XM (SIRI).

"My position has not changed: you should sit tight and own this stock, not try and trade it," the " Mad Money " host said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook made headlines recently when he estimated that Apple's service stream revenue could become as big as a Fortune 100 company next year. Apple clearly does not get enough attention for its powerful service revenue. But its cash hoard impressed Cramer more.

Even a $580 billion company has many channels to use that money. Cramer has said for years that Apple should make a big acquisition, or multiple big acquisitions, to reignite its growth rate and make investors fall in love with its stock all over again.

"I've got a terrific new merger idea that would seriously benefit both Apple and the takeover target in question. Not that either company has to do it, but it sure would make a lot of sense," Cramer said.

Apple needs to merge Siri with Sirius XM, Cramer said. Acquiring the under-appreciated Sirius XM could kill two birds with one stone.

The subscription satellite radio business could dramatically boost Apple's service revenue stream. Sirius could also give Apple a serious presence in the automobile infotainment space, which Cramer thinks is the next frontier for technology.

"Anything that puts Apple on the path toward owning the automobile would really brighten the company's long-term outlook," Cramer said.

Sirius XM's revenue has steadily grown, up 10 percent for the last four years. Sirius had more than $1.2 billion in sales ub its most recent quarter. That could immediately boost Apple's overall service revenue by 20 percent, Cramer said.

Sirius XM's stock is not cheap compared to the average S&P 500 (^GSPC) stock. Cramer thinks that is simply because investors recognize the positive aspects of its subscription-based model.

Cramer also noted that once a customer signs up for Sirius, they tend to keep it. Its low churn rate has stayed at 1.9 percent for years.

But Sirius XM does not control its own destiny, which could make the deal difficult. Liberty Media owns 65 percent of the business, so any decision to sell would need to come from Liberty's management.

"Every six months, Apple spends the equivalent of Sirius XM's entire market cap on buying back its own stock, and they have got more than $230 billion just lying around," Cramer said. "Apple should use some of that cash to take over Sirius XM in order to bolster its service revenue stream and give itself a foothold in the connected car."

Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!
Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine

Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com