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Jim Cramer
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Caller or Guest
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Jim Cramer
Hey, I'm Kramer. Jim Crimmer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Cramerica. Other people want to make friends. I'm just trying to save you some money. My job is not just to entertain you, but to educate, to do some teaching. So call me at 1-800-743- CNBC. Tweet me at Jim Cramer. We knew it had gotten harder since November began, Right? But this hard. Wow. We have reversals like this. The kind of reversal that makes you feel like you just can't take it anymore. I suggest you simply sit on your hands and hold on. It's not a sin to do nothing. Sometimes, as I make clear on how to make money in any market, it is the best course of action. This is one of those times. If you can't take the pain. And it was in abundance. Because the dow opened up 428 points, S&P opened 1.4%, Nasdaq opened up almost 2.2%, only to roll over with the Dow finishing down 387 points, SB down 1.56% and the Nasdaq off 2.16. Well, talk about a swing. Well, then you can still raise some cash. We don't have any. By selling some losers, not winners, in order to buy the winners on the way down, that's an acceptable course of action. Today's market's instructive. It's a reminder that while your companies may be doing extremely well, their stocks, they can separate Me another story. Case in point. The Biggest stock in the world in video. Last night Nvidia reported one of the best course I have ever seen. Ahead of the report there was tremendous angst that somehow they would blow it. They print a subpar set of numbers and the stock would blow up instead.
Caller or Guest
What happened?
Jim Cramer
Nvidia reported astonishing sales number, earnings number, gross margin, customers. Fantastic. And what happened? The stock pull up anyway, but not before it soared higher. Both last night and this morning, Nvidia stock opened at 195. That was up about 8 from yesterday, but then close at 180. A hideous swing that obliterated those who bought the opening. And a lot of people did. The volume was high. Why do I keep stressing this huge intraday swing stuff? Okay, let's get technical for a second. When you get that pattern to huge up opening and then the whole market craters, including your stock professionals associate that with a very nasty moment. If your company can deliver the best quarter possible and your stock finishes the session down anyway, well, you can expect more pain. Why not? Because if you can't rally on the greatest news possible, what else can make it move back up? Sure, it might not play out that way this time, but pattern recognition matters. Right now the pattern is terrible. I don't sugarcoat this stuff and I say that no, not changing my stance. I think you need to own in video, not trade it. But I understand the pain. There's been so much pain since it was a two. Let me tell you what you're supposed to do when you see this kind of pattern. You have to do a check down. Just like a quarterback in the NFL looking his receivers first. You asked did you miss anything within video that makes this quarter look a lot worse than it did at first glance? I read the conference call once, spoke to the company, read the conference call again, went to dinner with friends and then read the call a third time with some analysts notes. I'm confident I missed nothing. Demand for the chips is extraordinary. Gross margins pandas their customers, unlike what's constantly being said by the nattering nabobs of negativity, can't get enough of Nvidia's chips. And they're making a lot of money with them. They, the customers, I'm going to repeat that, are making excellent money with these chips, including some use cases where matter. As Jensen Wong, the CEO was explaining to marginal earnings gains. Second, you have to ask if there was anything in the cohort away from video that could explain the weakness of Nvidia. You have to survey the landscape to see what would explain the weakness for that. What I like to do is look at all the intraday charts of various stocks overlaid upon the stock of Nvidia. Here's what I found. A profound pronounced set of declines in the most elemental tech stocks. The basic semiconductors which have been rallying like crazy for weeks. Micron, Sanders, Western Digital, all these are storage place all computer companies that have been going parabolic for months now. They not Nvidia, had become the momentum players. Earlier this week a Morgan Stanley analysts used the dreaded term supercycle which almost invariably leads to a top when you hear it. As was the case with the last two supercycles that were called the Frackinson Supercycle and the Coal Supercycle. Both turn out to be long term tops heights that were never ever seen again. And then a crash. Sure enough, these storage stocks have been cratering for the last few days. Almost on cue with the ill fated ill advised supercyclical. These storage players, like fracking, sand and coal are commodities. Right now they're in shortage mode because they can't make enough storage to meet the demand. I'm sure we'll discover that the shortage was just alleviated somehow. We don't know, perhaps by some semiconductor capital equipment surge and the prices have started moving back to equilibrium. Equilibrium means lower prices. What else? Again, sticking with the concern that the biggest capitalization stock in the universe might be behind today's reversal. I noticed that one of the most closely correlated situations to invidious trading of all things, is crypto, especially Bitcoin. There are a host of incredibly speculative ways to bet on bitcoin borrow money ways that could be catastrophic on a breakdown for some bitcoin vehicles that were weeded in video because there's a lot of shareholder overlap. Sure enough, there's strategy, formerly microstrategy and agglomeration of crypto that public documents indicate owns about 3% of all bitcoin, a huge holding and finances that investment. More than $8 billion in debt. That's an insane amount of risk. JP Morgan this morning talked about how strategy may get booted from some indices. Because it's basically just a scheme though Bitcoin, not a real operating company the piece didn't suggest would happen soon, maybe by the middle of January. But man, there's a lot of money in index funds. And the indices include strategy. The pressure on strategy from these automatic sellers could be disastrous. You kick something out of the index like that, then the index money automatically departs. One more reason why you cannot afford to own that stock and I've been saying that and saying that it's not just strategy. There are so many bitcoin companies out there and they all trade with a commodity which broke down below the critical 90,000 level like a machete through butter. I am watching this. Bitcoin Immersion Technologies, a company involved in bitcoin hosting mining, it was down 10.83% today. Everyone seems to be holding on for dear life. And you know what happens when you do that. Bitcoin can lead tech down. Is that correlated because of the lever leverage state of the players involved? They're your nemesis. When bitcoin collapses, the people who bought it with borrowed money need to sell their holdings in order to raise money. And that often includes stocks like Nvidia. That in the 2x and 3x Nvidia junk paying havoc with Nvidia stock, not the. It's not the company itself. Fifth, you have to ask if there's anything totally away from video and tech that could be hurting things. The answer is pretty simple. The economy may be showing too much life. It looks like too many jobs are being created. The employment numbers are still pretty hopeless in terms terms of the veracity. But we got a string of strong numbers this morning and some people are saying that means no rate cuts this year. Lots of stocks need rate cuts. The main ones are the most speculative ones. Quantum computing stocks, alternative energy stocks, critical mining stocks, long shot nuclear stocks, extremely lever data center stocks without any earnings. Bitcoin derivatives, they're all down big. I've made it very clear to you that until we get a washout in these stocks, until they return to earth, it will be very hard for anything to stabilize, particularly that group. And they are mostly certainly returning to earth. It won't be in a straight line and there'll be plenty of opportunities still to get out when the defenders make the rounds on tv, which they always do. But I think that's all she wrote for the hype perspective of groups. As I've said to you over and over and over again, the year of magical investing is over. So where do I come out? I think you have to wait for a day before you make any decisions to buy. Even after the Shelley, we are still not oversold. But you should identify what you like tonight as we are doing for the Chapel Trust and be ready for tomorrow because we will definitely see bargains developing. I see recession stocks like Consumer Package, Good Place are getting some love. However, I like to buy them when they're hated, not love. And the Magnificent Seven don't look all that magnificent at least when it comes to stocks. That smells like opportunity to be bottom line. I want to see what holds tomorrow. Stocks that have come down too far too fast with the expectations too low, the opportunities too great. Those are the ones I'm looking to buy on wheat is especially the high quality tax that are now being thrown away with the bitcoin Bathwater Scott in South Carolina.
Caller or Viewer
Scott, Jimmy, chill. Booyah, man.
Jim Cramer
What's shaking with you, partner?
Caller or Viewer
Hey, man, I need your wisdom cap on big, big guy. Hey, I bought a stock back in late July when it went under 700. Thought it was a great deal. It ran up into earnings. It's always beat on earnings until this last time in early October, I believe you had the president on a week or two ago. He explained that he didn't explain the EPS miss but he explained that they made their 30%, I guess sales that they were looking for. But my stock, I'm very, I have a, I'm very convicted on this stock. I've been buying it as it's going down. I want to know should I keep on buying Axon?
Jim Cramer
Okay, so Rick Smith was on. He comported himself as usual, excellently. But remember, Motorola is in this business now and Motorola is a powerful competitor and they could be a trouble down the line. They weren't according to Rick now. But I think when you have a big dog that comes in and wants that business, they can afford to give some of the business away. That's what's changed the complexion of the stock and that's what makes me less convinced but not convicted because I didn't do anything. All right. We need to see what stocks hold their ground tomorrow because those are the ones that I'm looking to buy on. We just let's see what bounces. That's going to tell us. Well may everybody tonight while we're all focused on Nvidia earnings. It has been a big week for retail. I'm running through the important reports and sharing what I think of the cohort. Then Walmart reported this morning and shot the lights out. But should investors wait for a pullback before pulling the trigger? I'll give you my take and Gap after the bell. I'm talking to the CEO fresh off the company's earnings call to discuss the numbers. Stay with Kramer.
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Jim Cramer
Now that we're over the nasty hump of Nvidia, we can go back to focusing on what this week was really all about to begin with retail. Yet this week marks the beginning of retail earnings season so far. Let's call it a mixed bag, but given the widespread worries about the state of consumer I argue a mixed bag is actually pretty darn good. This morning we got a very good quarter from Wal Mart, but I want to tackle that separately because Walmart's in a class of its own. Other than Costco and the retail side of Amazon, nobody else comes close except for tjx, and we'll circle back to get that one after the break. For now, let's talk about the major retailers that reported earlier this week. On Tuesday we kicked things off with Home Depot and that was an inauspicious start. The desk bot posted a tiny sales beat, but both its earnings and the same store sales came in softer than expected and the stock plunged 6% in response. Owls worse, Home Depot cut its full year forecast for both comparable sales growth and earnings. There's a tough set of numbers. No ways around it. Smackers said that the uptick in demand they were expecting simply didn't materialize. Some that's from ongoing pressure in the housing sector as rates remain elevated. Some it's consumer uncertainty. Some of it's simply because we had a moderate hurricane season, which is great for anyone who lives near the coast, but awful for Home Depot's earnings because they don't get much rebuilding business. I also wonder if ice's high profile roundups of presumably undocumented immigrants at Home Depot parking lots might be playing a role too. I didn't factor that in well enough perhaps. Still, there's a reason we own it for the charitable trust. The Chapter Trust even bought some more as the stock approaches 52 week low on Tuesday. As I see it, there's a very simple reason on Home Depot. This company is a major beneficiary from lower interest rates and rates are coming down. But it would help if we get the rate cut sooner rather than later. If the Fed doesn't cut at next month's meeting, this stock's going to struggle. I think you saw some of that too. Now the other big home improvement chain, Lowe's reported yesterday they did comparatively better. This company posted a modest top and bottom line beat, even if their same store sales came in a tad light. Big difference from Home Depot. Lowe's raised its full year sales forecast, although they lowered their same store sales outlook and they adjusted the earnings guidance down a bit. I like that they had very little inventory. I mean like inventory is down still matching totals in November's off to a good start with positive same store sales so far this month. Again good despite the lack of hurricanes. And that's why the stock rallied about 4% yesterday. Although given that Lowe's sold off 2% the day before in response to Home Depot, it's maybe. Well, it's still impressive. Now CEO Marvin Ellis had a nuanced take on the consumer. He said that homeowners are healthy and their balance sheets are strong, but they're still concerned about things like the impact of the shutdown of the tariffs, so they're hesitant to make larger purchases or take on big remodeling projects. But despite this tricky environment, Lowe's is doing pretty well. Next up, Target. Oh Jesus, Tough one. Target also reported yesterday and this ailing big box retailer delivered yet another dispiriting set of numbers. We're talking about a slight revenue miss, a nasty 2.7% decline in same store sales, and a modest 7 cent earnings beat off a $71 basis. On top of that, Target slashed the high end of its full year earnings forecast. Previously they were talking about 7 to 9 bucks earnings per share. Now the sale be 7 to 8 bucks. Although given that Wall street was only looking for $7.24 entering yesterday, it's not a total surprise. Now here's what is the where's the weakness coming from? Target said that its Food and beverage and Hard lines categories delivered comparable sales growth in the quarter, but that was offset by, I'm quoting here, continued softness across the broader discretionary portfolio. End quote. That's what I used to love about Target. Used to be great. Plus, Target's traffic was down 2.2%. Their customers are spending less with each visit as their average transaction amount declined by 0.55%. Now Target's got a new CEO waiting in the wings with current Chief Operating Officer Michael Fidelke taking the reins in February. He's already talked about the need to improve the merchandise assortment, provide a more consistent shopping experience, use technology to breathe some life into the business. But based on what we saw from Target yesterday, let's just say he's got his work cut out for him. Finally, that this really strong quarter from TJX. That's the parent company, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and a couple of other brands. And it's another name we own for the Chapel Trust. This one's very different from the other retailers that reported this week. Because TJX is the leading off price chain, they're playing a different game than regular retailers. When other retailers get stuck with excess inventory, they typically unload it to companies like TJX for a fraction of what it's worth. Because the need to get rid of the old stuff before they can bring in new merchandise is an imperative. That means this company thrives when the rest of retail is in trouble. One reason why TJX is up more than 20% from the year while these other three companies are all in the red. Sure enough, this time TJX reported a clean top and bottom line beat 5%. Same store sales growth when the analysts were looking for 3. 2.7% that's a nice beat. 2.7 goes to 5. While TJ issued slightly weaker than expected guidance for earnings and same store sales in the current quarter. That's par for the course people. This company is one of the top practitioners of upod and that's initials for under promise and over deliver. Other than semi cautious guidance, there was almost nothing to take issue with all four of TGX's operating segments. Marmax, HomeGoods, TGX Canada TGX International outperformed In a complete contrast to Target, the company saw improvement both the number of transactions and the average transaction. Mail and TJX is madison giddy about the opportunity in front of them with CEO Ernie Herman who is so good, good and unheard of saying that quote, availability of quality branded merchandise has been exceptional and quote again when the rest of retail is in trouble, TJX makes out like a bandit. The one thing about TGX is that its stock tends to either sell off or do nothing after the company reports. Even the numbers are good. We actually raised a price target on this one for the Chapel Trust yesterday. Even as the stock finished the day up less than 0.2%, rallied another 1.6% today. Despite the terrible tape, I still think it's a steal. So the four big retailers that reported over this week, there's plenty to worry about even as some of them are doing just fine. Home Depot had a weak quarter. It desperately needs lower interest rates. Lowe's did better, but it's not on fire. Target stunk. TGX was excellent, but TGX is not a normal retailer. Here's the bottom line. With all the hand wringing about the state of the consumer, this was not looking like a great week for retail until this morning when Walmart shut the just it shot the lights out. I mean it's just. It was beautiful. More on that one after the break. For now, just know that you got to be selective when you're picking retail stocks. This environment, not a lot of them are working. Ed, Lenny's back after the break.
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Coming up, Walmart earnings are in and they could offer the clearest read on how the American consumer is faring. Kramer's digging into the winners, the worries, and what's next when Mad Money continues.
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Jim Cramer
In just 30 seconds there are likely to be an average of over 30,000 cyber threats to all businesses. Since I've been talking, more than 10,000 likely just happened. Hey, cyber threats don't wait and neither should you. With advanced security solutions, Comcast Business can help keep your network and data secure and your business reliably up and running. Get threat ready with Comcast Business Business. Learn how at Comcast business.com/security. For the break I walked you through the mixed bag of retailers reported earlier this week, but today we got something. Look, it was just purely positive and it was Wal Mart. This stock was already one of the best performers in the group, but its valuation got a little stretch, trading around 40 times earnings and longtime CEO Doug McMillan plans to retire. Pass the baton to the head of Wal Mart US in February. Turns out there was nothing to worry about at all. When Walmart reported this morning, it blew away the numbers. Posting 2 cent earnings beat off a 60 cent basis with much higher than expected revenue in Wal Mart. US same store sales excluding fuel up 4.5%. Wall street was only looking for 4. These numbers were driven by 1.8% transaction growth and an average ticket increase of 2.7% based on more traffic and more spending per customer. Fantastic. At the same time, Wal Mart saw a big pickup in its digital business business. Global E Commerce sales up a staggering 27%. A couple of their ancillary businesses are starting to become big contributors to Walmart's global Advertising business up 53%. Membership income up 16.7%. Again, amazing. And out of nowhere. You would have thought it'd be alchemy if you didn't know it was real. While Walmart's margins were basically flat, they still put up 35% earnings growth, well above expectations, even if that included some one time positives. When you back these out, you still get nearly 7% earnings growth year over year. Best of all, for the second straight quarter, Wal Mart raised its full year forecast for both net sales and adjusted earnings. Management's new outlook calls for 4.8 to 5.1% net sales growth when the street was looking for just 4.2%. Their operating income is now expected to grow by 4.8% to 5.5% when the analysts only expected 3.9%. And the new earnings outlook for the year is $2.58 to $2.63 per share, which is basically in line with the analyst consensus. But it still represents a nice boost. On the conference call, management gave a proud overview of widespread strength across their entire business. Here in the U.S. wal Mart told us that it's taking market share both in grocery and in general merchandise, with outgoing CEO Doug McMillan saying he's particularly excited about what the company's seeing in its fashion categories. But E Commerce was the key positive swing factor for the quarter. And while the 27% revenue growth for E Commerce was incredible, management also said that Wal Mart's benefiting from business mix changes and lower international losses in E Commerce, making the entire digital operation more profitable. It's just good after good. Speaking of international, that business is on fire. It had the best growth of any of Walmart's three major segments, with sales up 10.8% or 11.4% on a constant currency basis. The film gave us a quick walk around the world with great things to say about most of the company's international markets. In China, Wal Mart's rapidly building its E commerce infrastructure, improving service. 80% of digital orders in China now arrive in under an hour. Don't you want that? In India, the company's Flipkart business is performing well, executing a record quote big billion days end quote event in the quarter. That's the Indian equivalent of Amazon Prime Day here or Alibaba's Alibaba Singles day in China. Made up shopping holidays created by big online retailers. Always a sign that capitalism is alive and rapacious as ever. Meanwhile, Wal Mart's Mexican business was a growth driver. And McMillan seemed to be excited about the opportunity the company has in Canada too. The worst part of Walmart's quarter, if you want to call it that, was Sam's Club. But even that business had numbers that most retailers were killed for. Sam's Club's US comparable sales, for example, came in at 3.8%. That's a bit below 4.9% the analysts wanted to see. But if Target put up that kind of number, they'd be dancing in the streets of Minneapolis. Sam's Club is also doing great online. 22% E commerce growth in quarter. Remember, Sam's Club is like Costco. You pay a membership fee and then you get to buy in bulk. Management said that they're seeing healthy membership growth, strong renewal rates and more business from Walmart plus members. Walmart plus doesn't get you a Sam's Club membership card, but it does get you discounts at the gas station side of the business. Now management also had some interesting things to say about the state of the consumer on the conference call. And unlike many others, these guys were very specific. I've been saying for a long time that Wal Mart keeps winning because they've been able to attract more and more high income customers. And like me, like my kids, still doing it. As for middle and lower income consumers, it's more complicated. McMillan described middle income households as steady, but he also said the lower income shoppers have, quote, been under additional pressure as of late. He's understated telling the truth, given that lower income customers have long been Walmart's bread and butter. The company's making a concerted effort to offer better prices for necessities to keep people coming back. And believe me, everybody loves a bargain. McMillan noted that Wal Mart's US like for like inflation was 1.3% with food and general merchandise up low single digits. He didn't say this explicitly, but just reading between the lines, that probably goes a long way toward explaining why the company is still taking share in multiple categories. Consumers are fed up with years of persistent inflation. They desperately want value and Wal Mart is giving it to them. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Wal Mart's doing more to fight inflation than anyone at any level of our government. Finally, during the conference call's question and answer session, CFO John David Rainey was asked about how the consumer is doing entering the fourth quarter and he gave a cautiously optimistic answer. Here's how he put it. Quote, holiday is off to a point. Pretty good start. Back to school tends to be an early indicator for how that goes. Halloween, likewise for Thanksgiving. And everything that we've seen so far makes us optimistic and encouraged about customers and members leaning into the seasonal events and holiday shopping period. End quote. Sounds good to me. Or as good as Hill ever stated. When you put it all together, it's no wonder. The world's largest retailer saw its stock surge more than 6% percent today. Although it's actually down at one point in the early morning. Make it the best performing the s and P500. Every part of the business. US International, Sam's Club performing well. E Commerce continues to grow like a week. And Wal Mart somehow finding ways to both bring in more high income consumers and take care of the lower income shoppers to boot. Thoughtful. Oh, and a surprise development. Wal Mart, after a thorough discussion with the board that Douglas initiated, is moving over to the nasdaq. Here's the bottom line. Wal Mart stock still looks expensive on an earnings basis. But on days like today, you can see why so many investors are willing to pay up for it. At the end of the day, investors are willing to pay a premium for quality and Wal Mart's among the best in the business. This is one you have to hope will come down in a broader market. Sell off. I don't know if there's any other way to get it at a discount. Let's take some calls. Let's go to Bill in Massachusetts.
Caller or Viewer
Bill, Jim, your new book is phenomenal. Your staff's incredible.
Jim Cramer
I listen, I diversified, diversified and diversified.
Caller or Viewer
Is it too late for me to get into Procter and Gamble?
Jim Cramer
No, it's not. You know, we just initiated the position for the, for the trust. Why? Because it sells at 21 times earnings. Got about a 3% yield. That's about as low as you ever get, Proctor, which of course is a dividend aristocrat. I think it's a fine level. And thank you so much for the kind comments about the book. It's selling real well. I'm very proud doing a lot of these doing TV stuff to help getting the word around. But you know what's better than that? Having Bill from Massachusetts say he likes the book. Thank you Bill. Walmart is firing on all cylinders and even though the stock is still expensive, it's easy to see why people are willing to pay up for it, especially on a daily Today. Much more mad money ahead, including my post earnings exclusive with Gap. I'm running through the retailer's report with the CEO and we're getting some amazing opportunities to buy stocks Tripping prices because of endless flood of acquisitions. I'm revealing the names I'm watching and all your calls Rapid Fire, tonight's edition of the Lightning Round. So stay with. Typically when companies merge, the stock of the acquired tends to come down. Ever since the White House changed hands, we've seen it endless spate of acquisitions that might make your eyes glaze over. Not mine. These deals are creating some incredible bargains for us. For example, this morning Abbott Labs announced that it's by Exact Sciences, that's the colorectal cancer screening company for about $21 billion to 51% premium trading before we started hearing talk deal. This transaction will be the largest health care deal in two years and the largest diagnostic acquisition ever. Exact Science has a great product their color guard, their platform it's Colo Guard. You've probably seen the ad sometimes in football is a quick and convenient at home stool test for colon cancer which is the second leading cause of death of all cancers. Not because it's particularly dangerous, but because people don't get tested. They know that a colonoscopy is a pain in the posterior. Exact Sciences gives you a much less invasive way to test for colon cancer. They've sold 20 million of these color guard tests since it was approved but in 2014 is covered by insurance and Medicare too. So having to slot it right into their diagnostic portfolio. Of course this kind of deal probably would have been blocked by Biden's antitrust regulators, if only because the FTC under Lina Khan seemed reflexively hostile to all mergers. But under Trump it'll probably sell through now. Normally an acquirer stock only gets hit hard. They're playing with paying the for the target with their own shares. But Abbott's paying cash and it still dropped more than $6 over the past two days since the deal was reported. I think that's crazy. Abbott is a big hold its diagnostics business and Exact Sciences would plug it the rest of the Business doing quite well. So I think it's a terrific time to do some buying especially as once in the portfolio it will accelerate Abbott's growth rate. All right, this is one we've talked about bunch Kimberly Clark's bold nearly $49 billion bid to buy can view which is the JJ's old over the counter business makes Tylenol, Band Aids, Aveeno and so many other household names. I think it's incredibly compelling as can be stock is really near cut in half where it came public. Of course there is the secretary of health and human services has blamed Tylenol for causing autism. But he seems to think kind of everything causes autism at the same time can be still being sued overseas for its tax exposure. The same kind of lawsuit that weighed down change after years here in America. But our country has a uniquely lottery like legal system in the rest rest of the world now you just can't sue for your infinite damages. Like you here they standardize these things. No jackpot justice overseas. To me that means it's time to buy the stock of Kimberly Clark. Worst case another Inquirer comes in at which point Kimberly Clark goes right back up. You'd be getting a premier consumer packaged goods company for 14 times earnings for the almost 5% yield. I like that. And I still like Capital One Cof for its acquisition of Discover, a credit card company that gives them the edge at the register because it's cheaper for merchants to use Capital One Discover than Visa or MasterCard. The stock sells at 10 times earnings even as the company has about 160 million cards in circulation. Block, the old square that we talked to last night. It has around 57 million cash app users and it sells for about 2025 times earnings. That doesn't make sense to me. Sure Block is a younger client base, but Capital One Discover, it's got really fabulous scale. Listen, we haven't had many mergers in the past four years. People forget how bountiful they can be. Especially if the stock of the buyer gets knocked down. Look for this trend to take off. If history's any guide, it can make us a lot of money. It might get to the bridge.
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Coming up, lightning doesn't just strike twice in Cramerica.
Jim Cramer
Thanks for taking my call.
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It strikes every day. Kramer is back in a flash with your questions.
Jim Cramer
Next, Before we get started with the lighting round, listen up. Black Friday came early. This is a special deal to join the CNBC investing right now. You'll get my top market calls and every move inside the Chapel trust. Scan the QR code or head to cnbc.com/kramer club. And now it is time for the light. That's fine. My steppers look like but my step. And then the lighting round is over. Are you ready, Ski Daddy? Time for the lightning round. Christmas. But I still go to Ryan, Ohio. Ryan. Booyah, Jimbo, Booyah.
Caller or Viewer
What do you think about rocket companies?
Jim Cramer
Rkt? I got enough problems I don't even know. Rocket companies I can't get. No one's buying homes here. Let's go to Kathy in California. Kathy? Oh, yeah, Professor Kramer, this is Kathy from Walnut Creek, California. I've been watching your show just fine. Watching your show for 20 years. I'm an active club member. My question is on Regeneron. I should have been recommending Regeneron. That Lens Life report. The rabbit out of a hat is coming right back right now. By the way, I'll give you a twofer. So is Amgen. Let's go to Sean in California. Sean.
Caller or Viewer
Hey, Jim. A wise man once said, eric Grubman is money.
Jim Cramer
So on a day like today, I'm adding the Supergroup. I'd like to know what you think about that. Well, Supergroup, Eric Goodman, his money. He's been a friend of mine for I don't know how many years and he came on the show when they launched that company. And I guess what, you have more than double. It's fantastic. I like it still. Let's go to Matt in Texas. Matt.
Caller or Viewer
Hello, Mr. Kramer. Wonderful to speak to you.
Jim Cramer
Oh, same. What's happening?
Caller or Viewer
I want to ask you about Fubo. I wonder if it's too special.
Jim Cramer
Fubo? I don't know. Let's do Netflix instead of Fubo. I like Netflix more. Just saying. Let's go do Sam in Pennsylvania. Sam.
Caller or Guest
Jim.
Jim Cramer
How are you? I'm doing good. How are you, Sam? Good.
Caller or Viewer
So I stumbled upon this small cap stock based out of Reading, Pennsylvania. They're engaged in energy storage for industrial and military use. It's only a $5 billion market cap. They've seen sales growth roughly 8 to 10%. But the earnings acceleration in this company is what got me excited. So I'm curious what you think about enersys here at $132?
Jim Cramer
I don't know Enersis. And I should, given the fact that I'm not. I was born not that far from where they are. Let's see. Let me come back. I'm going to sit down with Ben Stodil. We're going to hatch this one out and really get to the bottom of why the stock is doing so well and whether that can continue to happen. Let's go to Mary in Utah. Mary, hi. Thank you for taking my call. You're quite welcome. Mary, what's going on? I want to know what the best strategy is for long term investment. Best what?
Caller or Guest
I'm learning the.
Jim Cramer
You have a stock there, Mary. These are what the best strategies are for long term investments. I'm not sure. I don't know the stock that you're asking about. Do you have an individual stock, Mary? Yes. Flutter stocks. Flutter stock. There is just, there is an incredible war to open accounts, I guess right now because, oh my God, Flutter keeps going down and there's some good, really good company. Gotta wait till that war ends, I think. And that lands on the conclusion of the Lightning Round.
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The Lightning round is sponsored by Charles Schwab. Coming up, Gap delivered a quarter with real style. But is the stock the right fit for your portfolio? Kramer sits down with the CEO fresh off its report.
Jim Cramer
Next, This tough environment for retail as I mentioned earlier, but great merchants won't let that stop them from putting up phenomenal numbers. Take Gap Inc. Which has been taking some time to turn itself around under CEO Richard Dixon. After the close though, Gap reported a great quarter. This was the 3 cent earnings beat off a 59 cent basis with a higher than expected revenue. 5% same store sales growth and it's only looking for 3.1%. Same time. Management raised their full year forecast for both revenue growth and operating margin. And that's why the stock's flying in after hours trading. So can it keep running as we head into the all important holiday season, let's check in with Richard Dixon, the President CEO of Gap to find out. Richard Dixon, welcome back to Bad Money.
Richard Dixon
Jim, thank you. It's good to be back with you.
Jim Cramer
Okay, so Richard, these were across the board, unbelievable numbers. I've got to tell you. I want to start with Old Navy. It's gigantic. Fantastic 6%. Come. I've been waiting for something like that, but I never thought that it could happen this quickly. What's going on, Jim?
Richard Dixon
Our strategies are working. It's working across the board. It's clear we're showing momentum and it's not just Old Navy. Although I want to talk about it. Old Navy up 6. Gap up 7. Banana up for gross margin, exceeding expectations. I mean, we really are starting to see the flywheel come about. Old Navy had an incredible quarter. Comps up 6% with the brand consistently delivering market share gains and that's over the last two years. So that's this isn't just a one off. Old Navy is the number one specialty apparel brand in the US and this performance really speaks to the brand's strength, consistency and the continued momentum. I would tell you, Jim, customers are responding to what Old Navy does best. Great style at great value. We saw growth across all income cohorts. Our AUR was driven by trend right product and of course it's all being amplified by better compelling creative and storytelling. So we're incredibly proud of the team at Old Navy and I really do believe that brand is just getting started.
Jim Cramer
Now you have been very good at, let's say, selecting celebrities to be able to feature and they're surprising, which I absolutely love. How is that working?
Richard Dixon
Collaborations are important as they drive relevance that ultimately can drive revenue. And I would call out Old Navy again. I mean, we saw a great response to our partnerships with Disney, for instance, Jingle Jammies, Exceeding Expectations, and our recent partnership with Anna Suite, which as an American fashion legend, I mean, this was a collaboration that was particularly meaningful as it was the first designer collaboration bringing really high fashion to a broader audience. And you know, we've done that with Gap. I mean, I think we're on our 13th consecutive partnership and collaboration. We just finished one with Sandy Liang, which did incredibly well. The Gap partnerships have really driven attraction to Gen Z. And of course, you know, the global fantastic execution we did with Cat's Eye, which generated incredible impressions. Over 8 billion impressions, 500 million views. It was a cultural takeover. We're so proud of the team's execution in these clubs.
Jim Cramer
Cat's Eye, this was something that you were able to realize that the impressions would translate to sales. I see a lot of people get impressions and they don't translate to sales. What is getting it? So they see and then they buy.
Richard Dixon
Well, we talk a lot about relevance and revenue. Relevance can be had. But if you don't have the product when the traffic gets there and you, if you don't execute with excellence in your stores and online, then it's just relevance, which ultimately doesn't necessarily show up on the scoreboard. So when it really works is when you drive relevance, that drives revenue. And again, each campaign that we've done, and you know we've done several, has gotten better and better and better. And the culmination of those has been the Cat's Eye campaign. I mean, it has been the brand's most successful campaign to date. It's generated significant traffic. It drove double digit growth in denim ranking. The denim ranking for Gap, we were number eight last year. We're now the number six adult denim brand in the U.S. growth in A. You are growth and consideration. Organic impressions, new customers. Again, Gen Z is discovering us, but it's important to note while we're reinforcing loyalty with our core customers. So this is really an ongoing flywheel that the group is getting stronger and stronger and customers are getting more and.
Jim Cramer
More excited with our last quarter. Banana Republic was a little off. You told me not to worry, that it was just, it was temporary. It looks like that was a great call. Again, Banana Republic, snap right back.
Richard Dixon
Banana Republic is again delivering exactly what it said it was going to do. I mean, this is a clear sign that the brand's reinvigoration is making steady progress. I'm really proud. The team has done a great job leaning into the brand's heritage. We've talked a lot about the brand's heritage and it's strengthening our position as a modern explorer brand. You know, we've had great, consistent business in the men's business.
Jim Cramer
Yes.
Richard Dixon
And we've had a lot of work to do on women's but we're starting to see really good harmony between men's and women's. We have a lot of progress that we've made, but we've got a lot more work to do. Stay tuned now.
Jim Cramer
I am actually intrigued by the hit to Athleta. I don't think you can turn it without finally ripping the band aid off. This -11 number may actually be a sign of change.
Richard Dixon
Look, we are disappointed in the trend for Athleta, but I will tell you, Maggie, our brand president, has hit the ground running. It is her first 90 days. She's balancing what we all know, near term priorities, but with longer term reinvigoration plans. As I've said, she's building her leadership team to align her vision, setting the foundation for the brand's next chapter. There's a lot of work that we're doing. We're editing the assortment, we're studying the consumer, we're evaluating our retail footprint and the overall customer experience and we're following our playbook. This will be a reset year for Athleta. Our focus is on positioning the brand for the long term success and returning it its to rightful place as a premium purpose driven, aspirational brand. I believe Maggie and the team are doing the right work. It's going to take some time, but I am confident that Athleta will re emerge as a brand that really does matter more to women and matters more in our portfolio.
Jim Cramer
How does it work that our conversation last time had to be dominated by tariffs and it's just an afterthought now. How does that, how did it evolve like that?
Richard Dixon
It, I will tell you it's more than an afterthought. I mean we manage and deal with tariffs and what we can control every day. Our team has done a great job with our mitigation plans. We've been focused on thoughtful adjustments to sourcing, manufacturing our assortments and many other actions that take place here every day. The third quarter tariff impact was about 190 basis points, but it was in line with our expectations. And despite this, we exceeded our gross margin outlook which was driven by brand momentum. And that's what's most important. Customers are resonating with our product. It's leading to less discounting, better regular price, sell through. And again, as we pursue our mitigation plans, most importantly, we remain focused on sustaining the momentum and market share gains that our playbook is driving. So tariffs are here, but we're managing them really well. And again, we're excited about finishing the year strong.
Jim Cramer
Well, that, that brings me to the last I want to talk about I am now hearing because I think you have a lot of new customers and you're taking more places. I was with someone the other night who said, look, I don't have to. I've got all everything bought for Christmas because I had the points, I want the Gap. I'm done. I mean now I never thought about talking about the reward system with you.
Richard Dixon
It's true. Look, first of all, what I really am proud of is we're seeing consistency and strength in our customer behavior and we're seeing it across the board. We had equal growth in all income cohorts, top, middle and bottom and again evidenced by our two largest brands, Old Navy and Gap. We all know that there's pressure and particular pressure on the lower income consumer. But our customers are finding our price value and style and it is breaking through the competitive landscape. Less discounting, better regular price, sell through increased aur. Our product is resonating. And when you concentrate on executing with excellence with great product, great merchandising, great marketing and great service, you can win in any market.
Jim Cramer
All right, Richard, we're going to leave it there. Congratulations. Just a monster. Good quarter. Richard Dixon, President CEO of Gap. Thanks for coming on.
Richard Dixon
Thank you, Jim, as always.
Jim Cramer
Absolutely. I'd like to say there's always a bull market. So my promise of it just for you right here on Man Buddy. I'm Jim Kramer. See you tomorrow. Booyah.
Caller or Viewer
For the Emperor of Cramerica, Honorable James J. Kramer. You got me jumping around my office right now. Thank you so much for all you do for us. I enjoy your show and I find.
Jim Cramer
It very entertaining and informed.
Caller or Viewer
I watched your first ever episode of Mad Money back in 2005 and I've been watching every single episode ever since.
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Jim Cramer
In the Pursuit of Flavor the holidays.
Caller or Guest
Were tricky for the Colonel.
Jim Cramer
He loved people, but he also loved peace and quiet. So he cooked up KFC's $4.99 chicken pot pie. Warm, flaky, with savory sauce and vegetables, it's a tender, chicken filled excuse to get some time to yourself and step away from decking the halls. Whatever that means. The colonel lived so we could chicken KFC's chicken pot pie the best $4.99 you'll spend this season.
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Jim Cramer
While supplies last. Taxes, tips and fees extra.
In this episode, Jim Cramer offers his signature analysis and advice on the wild swings shaking Wall Street, with a special focus on Nvidia’s dramatic post-earnings performance and the beginning of retail earnings season. Cramer delivers his fiery opinions on stock action, walks listeners through opportunities (and dangers) in the current market, reviews recent retail earnings, and features his “Lightning Round” rapid-fire stock picks. The episode also includes an in-depth interview with Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dixon, exploring the company's turnaround.
Cramer answers rapid-fire stock questions:
| Segment | Time | |----------------------------------------------|-------------| | Market outlook & Nvidia discussion | 01:26–09:56 | | Retail earnings (HD, LOW, TGT, TJX) | 14:57–21:30 | | Walmart deep-dive | 23:07–30:09 | | Merger & acquisition analysis | 30:39–35:06 | | Lightning Round | 35:20–39:03 | | Gap Inc. interview (Richard Dixon) | 40:05–48:30 |
Cramer remains characteristically energetic, direct, and pragmatic—offering both warnings and encouragement. He stresses resilience and patience amid volatility, advises against knee-jerk trading, and spotlights high-quality stocks and management teams.
“There’s always a bull market somewhere. That’s my promise… just for you, right here on Mad Money. Booyah!” — Jim Cramer [48:31]