After Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Intel strongly capped off a busy week of earnings, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said the action in their stocks told an important story about this market.
“I think it’s all business as usual, except with some incredibly large-capitalization companies as the focus,” the “Mad Money” host said. “Businesses that deliver amazing results get rewarded immediately with wholesale revaluations.”
The positive action spread beyond the stocks of the four technology giants; shares of ancillary companies like Facebook, Adobe and Apple shared in the gains.
That made Cramer wonder whether the market could see an encore, so he turned to the stocks and events he’ll be watching as the last of the big-cap stocks he follows report.
Cramer was concerned ahead of Mondelez’s Monday evening earnings report because Wall Street seems to have turned negative on the consumer packaged goods group.
“It doesn’t seem to matter whether this company delivers a good number or not,” he said. “Earlier this week, Hershey reported what looked to me to be a decent showing. The stock got clocked. Mondelez’s stock’s already been crushed. But this group keeps self-immolating. I’d say be careful.”
Kellogg: Management will undoubtedly try to put on a good face after Kellogg’s stock hit a fresh 52-week low on Friday, Cramer said.
“Kellogg has almost no growth and sports a 3.6 percent yield – decent, but not enough to be attractive,” the “Mad Money” host said. “If management cares about its stock, they’d put the business up for sale. Unfortunately, my understanding is that’s the last thing they’ll do.”
Pfizer: Cramer expected investors to “yawn,” then sell Pfizer’s stock after its earnings report due to broader weakness in the drug stocks.
Mastercard: Cramer’s pick of the week is financial services giant Mastercard, which will report its earnings before Tuesday’s opening bell.
“I believe that CEO Ajay Banga will put up some amazing numbers and even though the stock’s already up 44 percent for the year, I think … Mastercard can still head higher,” Cramer said.
Allergan: Few of Cramer’s stock recommendations have turned out worse than Allergan, he admitted.
Wednesday’s earnings results should explain whether the stock’s fall from $252 a share to $178 was justified, but regardless of how much Allergan misses, Cramer said the stock should be worth more than where it’s trading.
Facebook: Shares of Facebook have climbed higher ahead of its Wednesday earnings report, but Cramer and the rest of the market have few reservations about the social media giant’s quarter.
“There are so many positive read-throughs from Alphabet and Amazon, let alone Twitter, which gave you a really fantastic earnings report just yesterday, that it’s tough to resist the stock of the social media giant,” the “Mad Money” host said.
Kraft Heinz: Cramer hates to chase stocks, so he would rather pay up for shares of Amazon than buy into this consumer foods play, which also reports its earnings Wednesday.
“This company’s growth is so anemic, I’d rather just own a utility, any utility … unless Kraft Heinz can find someone, a competitor, to buy,” he said. “Not only is it pressured by millennials, who seem to oppose their wares in principle, but the remaining food companies seem addicted to going it alone.”
Activision Blizzard: Cramer expects a good quarter from the gaming giant, which he sees as well positioned to benefit from the explosion in eSports.
“We think of this company as a gaming enterprise, but maybe we should be thinking of it as an owner of teams in a whole new type of sport that sells out the house with aplomb,” he said.
Starbucks: Lowered expectations could cloud the rest of Starbucks’ earnings report, which Cramer said could show improvement in the “mosh pit” problems the coffeemaker had with its mobile ordering system.
“If you don’t own it yet, why don’t you wait to see it report?” he suggested.
Apple: Cramer sees three hidden positives developing around Apple ahead of its earnings report.
- Most of Wall Street expects Apple to report a bad quarter, which Cramer likes because it lowers the risk.
- People are confused about whether to buy the iPhone 8 now or wait until the iPhone X comes out. “I say great, there will be plenty of people who’ll be sampling both and buying one or the other well into 2018,” Cramer said.
- There’s been a lot of criticism that neither new iPhone brings anything new to the table, but Cramer has always been amazed by the new smartphones’ features.
“I’m reiterating that you should buy Apple and own Apple, not trade Apple,” Cramer concluded. “As long as CEO Tim Cook is at the helm, as long as everyone in my family covets Apple’s superb products, and as long as the stock is this cheap, I’m going to stick by that mantra.”
Commercial real estate services company CBRE reports on Friday. Cramer said he thinks the world of the building giant ahead of what could be a strong quarter.
“By this time next week, we’ll be done with the bulk of the big-cap stocks that are very exciting and can make a lot of waves in the stock market. I think we’ll find a continuation of this week’s action, where the techs, the financials and the industrials keep going higher, while everyone else just kind of lags behind. It’s that kind of market. It’s a bifurcated bull, but a bull none the same,” the “Mad Money” host said.
Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Alphabet, Facebook, Apple, Allergan, Activision Blizzard and Starbucks.
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Source: Tech CNBC
Cramer's game plan: A divided bull market, but a bull all the same