Mad Money with Jim Cramer – October 23, 2025 Episode Summary

Episode Overview

Jim Cramer dives deep into the ongoing "bulls vs. bears" narrative dominating Wall Street, dissecting common investor fears and explaining why the historical strength of the market should give bulls the benefit of the doubt. He tackles recent market drivers—including government shutdowns, tariff fears, and cautionary tales from banking—before spotlighting critical earnings updates from GE Aerospace, GE Vernova, IBM, and Dover. Cramer finishes by fielding listener questions in the “Lightning Round” and discussing Tesla’s evolution into an AI-forward company.

Main Theme & Purpose

Theme:
The episode centers on cutting through sensational market fears and helping listeners stay focused on long-term investment fundamentals. Cramer illustrates why trusting the market and history favors the bullish outlook and offers practical analysis of high-profile stocks through the lens of recent earnings.

Purpose:
Help investors avoid knee-jerk reactions to negative news, understand the real drivers of market moves, and spotlight actionable insights from recent corporate earnings, with Cramer's characteristic energetic, no-nonsense style.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trusting the Stock Market Amid Negativity (01:40–11:20)

• Cramer urges investors to ignore constant negative noise: “Bulls waste a huge amount of time shadowboxing the Bears.” (01:43)
• Common market objections are debunked:
  • Government Shutdowns: Historically have little effect on markets. “Shutdowns simply don't matter to the market.” (03:08)
  • President Trump/China Trade Fears: Repeated tough talk is overblown. Cramer calls buying on these dips “a winning strategy the whole way.” (05:27)
  • Banking System Fears: Jamie Dimon's “cockroach” warning on defaults turned out overblown. “Turns out there is no cockroach infestation.” (07:40)
  • Apple Skepticism: Despite analyst downgrades, iPhone 17’s true demand revealed post-launch. “Apple keeps going higher.” (09:52)
  • Tariffs: Baked into company performance already. “Tariffs really haven’t been that much of a factor.” (11:08)
• Personal Market History:
  Cramer reflects on his start in finance when the Dow was at 1,000—now 46,000—emphasizing long-term wealth creation for "bulls."

“This market is not a bunch of coins to be flipped. It's a collection of companies to be invested in.” (12:17)

2. Listener Q&A – Reddit & UPS (12:20–14:20)

• Reddit (RDDT):
  Cramer bullish on Reddit’s data assets and management, particularly CEO Steve Huffman. “I think Reddit’s going to go much, much higher.” (12:58)
• UPS:
  Prefers FedEx and JB Hunt over UPS due to concerns over dividend sustainability and sector headwinds.

3. Earnings Deep Dive: GE Aerospace & GE Vernova (15:03–22:30)

GE Aerospace

• Outstanding quarter with 26% organic revenue growth (15:28)
• Strength in commercial engines, maintenance/services (higher margins):
  • LEAP engine deliveries up 40% year-over-year (16:40)
  • “I love a good maintenance business. I don’t even care if you give away the darn engines.” (16:03)
• Supply chain reliability significantly improved—a competitive edge in current tariff environment.

GE Vernova

• Strong top/bottom line result, organic revenue up, 15% backlog growth to $135B (18:57)
• Big on electrification, grid infrastructure, and nuclear—safe way to play the trend:
  • Recently acquired the rest of Prolact, boosting grid-related offerings (19:42)
  • Management forecasts grid/electrification market to double by 2030
• Buybacks:
  “They say they'll continue to buy back stocks on an opportunistic basis as they believe … there is incremental value embedded in our stock.” (20:47)

"I’m betting that GE Aerospace and GE Vernova are ready to run and that today's rallies were the ones that matter." (21:57)

4. IBM Earnings Breakdown (23:00–30:00)

• IBM reported a robust quarter—healthy top/bottom line beats, revenue up 9%, margins strong (18.6%). (23:41)
• Despite AI-driven growth and strong consulting/infrastructure performance, IBM shares sold off on slightly slower Red Hat growth. Cramer calls the reaction “ridiculous.” (26:10)
• Key AI Highlights:
  • Consulting business returned to growth
  • New mainframe launch is the “strongest two quarter launch in history” (25:14)
  • Only part under scrutiny: “Red Hat came in a little light … but it was the only key part of IBM that was disappointing.” (26:11)
• Cramer sees IBM as a relative bargain in the crowded tech sector.

"There’s so much good news happening all throughout the rest of the organization. I think it’s very short sighted to focus on an ever so slight tick down from Red Hat." (27:14)

“If you saw IBM stock selling off this morning in response to earnings and freaked out, there’s nothing to be afraid of because the actual numbers were superb.” (29:45)

5. Lightning Round (40:26–47:46)

A rapid-fire Q&A with callers, Cramer offers hot takes (buy/sell/hold) on several stocks:

• Novartis (NVS):
  “Vas is a winner. I’m a buyer.” (40:37)
• IonQ (IONQ):
  “It’s a trading vehicle. I like investing situations.” (41:04)
• QFIN 360 Holdings:
  “China financials, not for me. I like Alibaba.” (41:29)
• Kratos Defense (KTOS):
  “It’s come down a bit. It’s time to pull the trigger.” (41:59)
• GSI Technologies:
  “Yeah, that thing is a rocket ship, man … it’s straight up.” (42:21)

6. Dover Interview with CEO Rich Tobin (33:46–40:15)

• Dover delivered an earnings beat & raised FY guidance despite missing revenue estimates. Shares rallied over 8% (33:47)
• Electrical infrastructure business and exposure to data centers/LNG highlighted as strategic growth opportunities.
• M&A strategy: Favors proprietary, engineering-heavy deals; cautious on market asset prices.
• Tariffs: Not a material headwind due to localized manufacturing and pricing power (37:59)
• Future plans: May buy back more stock given current valuations.
• On AI market: Focus on proprietary product development rather than overpaying for expensive acquisitions.

“Anything that is even modestly exposed to AI build out has gotten extremely expensive. So, I think we’d lean into our own product development there.” – Rich Tobin, CEO, Dover (38:44)

7. Tesla: The AI Innovator (43:10–47:46)

• Cramer reframes Tesla as a tech/AI company, not just an automaker:
• Elon Musk’s vision for AI: “We're at a critical inflection point for Tesla and our strategy going forward as we bring AI into the real world.” – Elon Musk, quoted by Cramer (44:16)
• Key Growth Areas:
  • AI-powered autonomous driving/robotaxis
  • Advanced energy storage: “You can effectively double the energy output in the United States just with batteries.” (45:43)
  • Robotics (Optimus): Musk focused on perfecting dexterous robot hands
• Corporate governance: Cramer supports Musk's compensation package, calling him “actually worth it” compared to most CEOs (46:36)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On investor psychology:
  “People just refuse to trust the market. They want to find reasons not to like stocks and they're willing to go to great lengths to find themselves out.” – Jim Cramer (01:57)
• On historical perspective:
  “Since I first heard ‘get out now,’ the Dow Jones Industrial Average is going from 1,000 to about 46,000.” (11:35)
• On Apple doomsayers:
  “Did you violate my own ‘Apple, don't trade it’ dictum this week?” (09:57)
• On IBM’s AI business:
  “Even their sleepy infrastructure division is doing great with that new mainframe product that's on fire.” (28:32)
• On Tesla’s AI ambitions:
  “No one can do what we do with real world AI.” – Elon Musk, recounted by Cramer (44:19)
• On Tesla's robot project:
  “Musk talked about the difficulty of making the hand and forearm of a robot … It’s an incredibly difficult thing … to create a hand that's as dexterous and capable as the human hand.” (46:09)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:40–11:20 | Market psychology & investor fears | | 12:20–14:20 | Listener Q&A: Reddit & UPS | | 15:03–22:30 | GE Aerospace & GE Vernova Earnings Analysis | | 23:00–30:00 | IBM Earnings Breakdown and Reaction | | 33:46–40:15 | Dover CEO Interview | | 40:26–47:46 | Lightning Round | | 43:10–47:46 | Tesla: The AI Innovator and Market Narrative |

Episode Takeaways

• Stay bullish: History strongly favors investors who buy and hold quality companies, tuning out temporary fears and headlines.
• Trust fundamentals, not market hysteria: Cramer demonstrates where earnings and real trends contradict negative narratives.
• Stock specifics matter: Not all “bad news” is worth selling; Cramer often urges patience and perspective, especially with proven winners like Apple, IBM, and Tesla.
• Be selective and strategic: Even in hot sectors (AI, data centers), be wary of overpaying—favor growth at a reasonable price.
• Embrace innovation: The most robust opportunities remain among companies driving, not just reacting to, technological change (Tesla, IBM’s AI/hybrid cloud strategy, Dover’s infrastructure pivot).

Episode delivers a passionate, data-driven defense of disciplined investing, layering actionable company insights atop Cramer’s signature style and big-picture thinking.