The 5G rollout has cell tower stocks in 'raging bull market mode': Cramer
As the broader market labors through a tough trading stint, the cell phone tower sector has been one of a few that have soared.

The impending rollout of the next generation of cellular network technology has been a catalyst for the group and has made tower real estate more valuable, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.

"When you see a group rally on an ugly day, wow, you might want to check ... what's driving the strength," the "Mad Money" host said. "The cell tower stocks are in raging bull market mode, with the coming build-out of 5G giving them an extra catalyst."

Semiconductor companies have been buoyed as 5G suppliers, but the industry has taken a hit from a U.S.-China trade war. Tower companies, such as American Tower , Crown Castle and SBA Communications , have minor exposure to China and continue riding the decades-long tailwinds in wireless technology, Cramer said.

"The 5G buildout requires an enormous amount of investment, and that's good news for the cell tower plays," he said.

Each business can lever multiple competitors in the phone industry on one piece of real estate, including AT&T , Verizon , Sprint and T-Mobile . 5G has become a national priority across the globe in the wake of the trade war and President Donald Trump's action against Chinese telecommunication companies ZTE and Huawei, Cramer said.

The cell tower companies "invest in the infrastructure that powers our wireless networks, then they charge carriers a fee to use that infrastructure," he said. "Once you build a tower, you can just add another antenna to it when you pick up a new client, so the margins are terrific."

Cramer reviewed his favorite stock plays in the industry: