Five recent upside surprises from formerly struggling stocks made Jim Cramer more open to the idea that maybe old dogs can, indeed, learn new tricks.

“Every day in this market it seems like some old-line company surprises us with good news, causing investors to buy their stocks hand over fist. The resuscitation of these falling stars is what’s behind a lot of the strength here,” the “Mad Money” host said.

Cramer began with the stock of telecommunications giant AT&T, which surged nearly 5 percent after the company beat earnings estimates on the top and bottom lines.

AT&T’s second-quarter success came from increasing subscribers and smooth execution of its merger with DirecTV, but Cramer says management revealed still more tailwinds on its conference call.

In response to a question about AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner, AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens nodded to the strategic advantage of owning HBO.

“That answer was super revealing because Stephens wasn’t even asked about HBO specifically; the question was about Time Warner as a whole,” Cramer said. “But that was hand-tipping … akin to why DirecTV worked so well for them. Game of Thrones, meet NFL Sunday Ticket.”

Then Cramer turned to Advanced Micro Devices, shares of which also rallied after the company topped earnings estimates and announced strong full-year guidance.

Popular device makers like Microsoft and Apple use AMD’s graphics chips in their devices, Microsoft’s Xbox and Apple’s laptops being two key growth areas for the company, Cramer said.

The semiconductor company’s products can also be used to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, a red-hot area of the decentralized online payment space.

“Given that AMD’s now promising profitability and positive cash flow … I think it’s good to go,” Cramer said. “[The] problem, of course, [was] there was some profit-taking at the end of the day, but is that really a problem? Or is that an opportunity?”

Changes at aerospace giant Boeing also sent its stock flying on Wednesday, as the company steadied its customer orders to become more regular and predictable.

“Hence how the company can predict a staggering $6.1 trillion … worth of demand for approximately 41,000 new planes over the next 20 years,” the “Mad Money” host said. “That’s what I call demand.”

Cramer said these stocks are joining the ranks of McDonald’s, whose CEO, Steve Easterbrook, is leading the company through several stages of innovation, restructuring and experimenting in overseas markets.

“Look, I know more than any it pays to be skeptical of a stock that’s run so much, but after this quarter, I think the story’s still got a lot more upside,” Cramer said.

From giving McDonald’s franchisees more say in how they run their outposts to rolling out mobile ordering, Cramer said Easterbrook’s calculated accomplishments were something to watch.

“So I say look out for companies that you may have written off,” the “Mad Money” host said. “AT&T, AMD, and Boeing now join McDonald’s as old dogs giving you some new, refreshing and darned lucrative tricks. I don’t think these are anywhere near ready to roll over yet, Rover. In fact, I bet they all have more room to run.”

Source: Tech CNBC
Cramer finds 'old dog' stocks teaching the market new tricks