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Jim Cramer
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Jim Cramer
My mission is simple to make you money. I'm here to level the playing field for all investors. There's always a bull market somewhere and I promise to help you find it. Mad money starts now. Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome everybody. Welcome America. People make friends. I'm just trying to make a little money and we're going to do that. My job is not just to entertain them, to educate. Good teacher. Call me 1-800-7-3 CBC tweet me at Jim Cramer. Be nice when we value stocks in this environment tend to think of how they'll fare in a world of rising long term interest rates, cheap how or how to perform under the new presidential regime. We care about the sector and how it's behaving, but how about the companies? How about the people who run them? We don't talk enough about the people who run the enterprise around here. In some, not all situations but some that is all that that matters. If you want to make huge amounts of money, which you do the transcendence of the enterprise thanks to the leadership of a great CEO, why not celebrate it? Hey, stop denigrating it at least. So in a day where the average did well with Dow gained 169 points. SB climb 0.52% Nasdaq advanced 0.25% you know what it may pay to think bigger instead of just being in the tech battleground out here every day. Tonight for example, Apple reported earnings. Now we knew coming into the quarter that iPhone sales might be light and China sales might be sluggish. And that's exactly what happened. IPhone sales of around 69 billion were light versus expectations more than 70 billion. China sales did decline 11% year over year and missed the consensus expectation by more than 2 billion. There, there. I got it out. I got the bad news out. You wanted it, I gave it to you. Of course that ignores the fact that Mac and iPad both beat expectations handling. Nor is the fact that the increasingly important line grew 14% beat expectations. Well, it ignores strengthening margins in Europe and the rest of Asia, maybe outside of China. It ignores all that's coming down the pike for Apple and I later health care, which CEO Tim Cook continues to believe will be huge for the company told me that tonight. And then on the call the company actually gave better than feared outlook for the current quarter. Look, guess what? They'll beat growth low single digits. You know what? Then the stock had to flip positive because there's so many people betting against Apple. Go figure. But you know what as but you know Apple don't trade right? But I have to tell you, I do want more out of my stocks and just better than feared. I am tired of tech just sitting there and people arguing about all the time. It's getting boring to me and that's why I want to go far afield. Tonight suggest that we look for the companies with the best new coaches because we know a great new coach with a fresh look can easily turn around a company. And I want to know them. For instance, I want to start with someone we had on the show last night making more money for you than any company. I'm talking about Kevin Hockman. He's the CEO of Brinker. Hey, just because it's small doesn't mean you can make money. There's a rule. You may know him as the parent of Chili's. You probably eat one unless you're like really rich and you're like one of those oligarchs that Biden was talking about. It's a chain of 1200 casual dining restaurants in the U.S. try they good rings. A few years ago, Hockman departed a high level job at Yum Brands where he ran KFC in order to take the helm of Brinker. That was Norm Brinker was the guy who run it. That's where they got that name I'm following. You know, I followed the company from when Norm Brinker was alive. My kids like Chili's. I always liked the price point, the convivial crowd and of course the baby back ribs. But I never liked the stock. Nothing special. Marginal, meaningless and then less Than three years ago, Hockman came roaring in as CEO and it's never been the same. He simplified the menu. That's too hard. That's what they have to do with Starbucks too. He gave you a value meal dinner under 11 bucks. An inexpensive terrific mixed drink with real good tequila, special management and a real by the way. And a delicious dinner for everybody. I saw it on Tik Tok. The result? The stock's now up more than 340% in just the past year. Yeah, you're fighting with. You're fine to get Microsoft and get that 1%. How about 3? How about that? How about the 300 plus if Baker goes to 200 and hey, it's already 182. Do you know that it's a 10 bagger? The legendary Peter lynch, the former manager of the Magellan Fund and the author of One up on Wall street, the best business book ever written, talks about how the goal of every investor is to hit a 10 bagger. I think Hockman is going to give you a 10 bagger. I wish tech could still give you one second, there's where I have my cup of coffee this morning. Starbucks. When this stock was beaten down to 77 bucks, the company announced that the old CEO was out. And Brian Niccol, the incredible and creative executive who turned around Chipotle during its dark days, would now be taken over. Immediately. The stock took off. I kept thinking Starbucks would go down at some point with travel trust owners that wanted to buy more. But it never did. That initial on the high 90s never looked bad. In fact, when the company reported this week, the stock powered ever higher to the point where this very big Dow company is now up over 40% since the last CEO got fired. Why didn't the media focus on how Starbucks missed its numbers? That's what I heard. Yeah, I call that headlineitis, the inability to capture the story in 12 words or less. Here's the answer. First, Starbucks the coffee might be good, but Starbucks the company was really poorly run and Starbucks the stores disastrous. I mean that's precisely the kind of job Brian knows how to do do. It's what he did at Chipotle. In fact, it's almost as if you were born for this job. What it reminds me of, and I hate this pains because it's another team. The Washington Commanders. The Commanders, yeah. When the fabulous Josh Harris bought the club from billionaire buffoon Dan Snyder in their first year they get in the NFC championship was manifest destiny for both. I have to tell you that after Interviewing Brian the other day he spent the last three months figuring out what's wrong with Starbucks and he's already taken actions like putting names on the cops, bringing economists table back, offering porcelain cups to those who stay and spare no detail. Uncovering the COVID on the darn outlets that represented the end of the third place coffee house because you could have a cup of coffee now with the juiced PC symbolic. How about realistic? Next? How about Larry Culp at the old general election, this company really stunk up the joint for so long you almost had to believe GE was merely a practical joke played on the market. Larry Culp didn't think it was all that funny though he raised some cash by selling some good stuff because he knew every turnaround has to start with a balance sheet. Without a good balance sheet, the turn would be still born. Then he split the company into three separate businesses. GE Health Care, GE Vernova and GE Aerospace. Now I remember going out to lunch with Larry and saying to him that this power business was bleeding so much money the spin off had to be disaster. He challenged me. He said look at the division's languishing. Sure. But he told me not to worry. He worked to get the company an investment grade rating. Then everyone would want a piece of it. I almost took my Diet Coke. I don't know how far Larry can see around the corner. But now G.E. vernova is a beloved company, the hottest one with men. Momentum traders can't get enough precisely because it makes the turbines and windmills. They call them turbines. I used to call them turbines and windmills that you need to power all those new data centers. He pointed Scott Stranger to run what became GE Vernova. The stocks started trading independently 141 about 10 months ago. Now it's at 383. Oh, and don't forget it's also going to be the company that builds small modular nuclear plants that everybody loves so much. I'll give you another one. It's kind of funny. This one is Nikash Arora. When he took over at Palo Alto Networks Panw, a once powerful cybersecurity company that had fallen behind the others, people thought turning his business around was too big a task. At best he'd just be a deal maker and a so so one at that. I knew cash is brilliant competitive guy whom I wanted to bank with, which is why we bought the heck out of the stock when he got put in. That's the character to speed the way. Now Palo Alto had a $19 billion market capitalization when Keshe took over on June 6, 2018, it's now worth 123 billion. He created 104 billion in value. Hey, one more. How about this one? Bracken, Daryl. He left Logitech for the challenge of turning around the broken clothing company VF Corp. A little over a year and a half ago, stock was trading around 19 bucks. Heinous balance sheet. In July of last year, he sold off VF Corp's hottest brands to Essler Luxottica for 1.5 billion in cash. It was. It was good. Good brand. He had to do it. But Darryl, he needed cash. Sure enough, the company reported great quarter last night. The stock shot up to almost 27 bucks. Finally, let's give IBM. Christian is due. When he took over IBM, he didn't know what it was at anymore. Who knew what it was morning more than the stock trade around 110. Christian took it from a hardware outfit with the consulting arm. Spun off the legacy businesses. Prindle and Kendall's doing well too, by the way. And guns the stock to 258 as of today. Now it's almost 50%. Software gusher. Cash flow. Darn things shot up 13% in response to a great quarter. What a winner. Best of all, I think that gain is sustainable. So here's the bottom line. Not all publicly traded companies are hostages to forces beyond the control. Like a Chinese outfit we never heard of that has just made it so that all we talk about is I wish. You know, we get. I have it. I have it on the app. It's called Seat Geek. That's what I'm calling it from now. I got really good super bowl doing. Seat Geek. Isn't that what we're talking the Chinese AI company? All right, enough already, right? With the seat gig. Sometimes when you bring in a great new CEO, they're offering me stocks in the 40. He's right. See the seats on the 40 right here? But the seat, they can turn around the whole business, giving the investors spectacular gains. Even tech blinds us like mustard gas. Telling you on Mad Money, we're never going to stop searching for opportunities to make you money. Not just to argue about stocks. I want to start with someone like Kyle in New Jersey.
Kyle
Kyle, Mr. Jim Cramer. How are you, buddy?
Jim Cramer
I'm good. I'm worried about the Seat Geek coming through on top of the Super Bowl. I'm sorry. Deep seek. Deep seek. What's going on?
Kyle
Listen, congrats on your Eagles making it to the super bowl, man.
Jim Cramer
I know you're a huge Fan you.
Kyle
Stuck with them through thick and thin.
Jim Cramer
And if Brandon Graham suits up, you know. Look, Al, I did wish. I wish the Reeds today best of luck because they are really some great people and I kid you not, they are fabulous. All right. Maybe we should talk. I don't know. Should we do some stocks? I prefer sports, but I got this contract.
Kyle
I know, man. Well, listen, I have a passion for football and a passion for stocks. Just like that.
Jim Cramer
I like that. Take the over on some stocks.
Kyle
Listen, I wanna. I wanna wish my friend Jess a 30th happy 30th birthday today.
Jim Cramer
Oh, of course, Jeff, man. Happy, happy B Day. So.
Kyle
And she's got an app in at U Penn. So I want you to talk to Jeremy Siegel to see if you can get her in for me.
Jim Cramer
Done. Done. Let me make that. Can I wait till the commercial or I have to call him now?
Kyle
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Jim Cramer
Okay. All right. Now we gotta know the stock. Let's see him do better. Let's go to the stock.
Kyle
I thought with Trump coming in this thing would be on fire. Tariffs were announced today, buddy. What am I doing with my Cleveland Cliffs, man?
Jim Cramer
You want to take the over on cliffs? Anytime. Touchdown. Okay, do that. I would do it. I think. Let me see. I think it's 35 to 1 you. But look, I think Cleveland Cliffs is so cheap now. When you get the tariffs, the only reason they've really been crushed is because all that Chinese dumping. And that's going to end with the tariffs because that's what they're going to really police. I like cliffs. Of course, I think Nucor is a better stock. And who am I? Dave's birthday. Who else do we have? You gave me a long list of people and I. Jeff, Jeff. Happy birthday, Jeff. I'll have you over for a couple of brewskis later. Look, sometimes when a company brings in a new CEO, they can turn around the entire business investors some remarkable gains. Did I mention Nvidia yet? I'll never stop searching for real opportunities to make you money on mad money. Talk about opportunities. Thermo Fisher is on the move. Higher after today's earnings beat. But can the stock keep running after its post pandemic drought? Let's talk the CEO then. DEBM the artist formerly known as Waste Management. Kind of like RH used to. Restoration harbor posted its fourth quarter results last night, closing up over 6% today. I'm checking in with the top risk to get read on the macro environment. And later I've got an exclusive Medtech player Oh my. Even those on Pickleball know this because you probably have your knees and they say Stryker. But don't open them up to see the name. Just trust me. And that's propelling the outperformance of the stock. We speak to the CEO. So I did. Dave, stay with Kramer.
Mad Money Team
Don't miss a second of Mad Money. Follow imkramer on X. Have a question? Tweet Kramer Madmentions. Send Jim an email to madmoneynbc.com or give us a call at 1-800-743-CNBC. Miss something? Head to madmoney.cnbc.com.
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Jim Cramer
All right. What's gotten to the stock of Thermo Fisher Scientific this month? The big life science equipment maker that we love so much has been rangebound for the past four years. Look, after a huge run during the early days of the pandemic, stock peaked near the end of 2021. It's basically been trading sideways since. Until this month, just since the beginning of the new year. Thermo Fisher shot up almost 17%. Could be a monster 6.8% run today and wake up a really good quarter. Clean top and bottom line beat. Basically solid full year forecast. So why is it the Wall Street's finally coming around to this great company? Let's take a look with Mark Casper. He's the chairman, president, CEO and frequent guest of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Mitch Casper. Welcome back to my buddy Jim.
Mark Casper
Thanks for having me. It's really a pleasure to have the opportunity to talk with you today.
Jim Cramer
Well, I'm thrilled you're back because I know that you've been saying you've been right all along about when things would turn. You said it would turn. Now it certainly indicates from this quarter that the turn is at hand.
Mark Casper
Yeah, we finished the year on a really strong note to return to organic growth 4% for the quarter, translating that into 8% adjusted EPS growth, well ahead of expectations and really enter this year with great momentum and really expect our markets to continue to improve. And the feedback obviously from our investors, very positive today about the outlook for 2025. Financially, the team did a really nice job of executing in 2024.
Jim Cramer
Well, I follow the industry pretty closely. There was a very good outfit yesterday that reported, reported Dan her and they said things are not good and they gave a very bad forecast. I felt very disappointing. Have you guys just have a different, different client base or doing better in China because it's clear that you pulled away from the group.
Mark Casper
Yeah. You know, when I think about our performance, we have a number of fine competitors out there and we've been able to gain market share very consistently and methodically year in and year out. And when you look at our organic growth, which is a good measure of that, we've been able to outpace the industry in the best of times and even in challenging times. And 2024 was another year where our organic growth was clearly better than others and our customers really value the status that we have with them. We are their trusted partner and you're seeing our customers do more and more business, particularly in pharma and biotech, which is allowing us to drive share, gain growth and continuing to outpace the outpace the industry.
Jim Cramer
Some of your optimistic nature on this year being that you expect that there will be more biotech deals and soon as they get the money, they go and they write a check to Thermo Fisher.
Mark Casper
Yeah, so. So when I think about our role as enabling our customers, particularly in pharmaceutical and biotech, you know, when I say trust a partner, we are helping them in their research labs to do the study of the molecules, we're helping them and design the clinical trials, execute the clinical trials, and then ultimately develop and manufacture the medicines that they will bring to market. And because of that very holistic nature of the role, we are able to have a status that is different than anybody else's. And we're seeing optimism in the biotech community that's clearly been strengthening. It's not back to normal yet, but it's recovering nicely. We're also seeing great confidence in the larger pharmaceutical companies. They've gone through a period where they've fine tuned their pipelines, and as I've had the opportunity to meet with many of our customers, quite a bit of optimism about what 2025 and beyond holds for that customer set. So I'm excited for the year and we're still in a recovering market, but it'll be good to get back to strong growth this year.
Jim Cramer
Do we have to worry at all about this, the new president, administration, and a possible freeze of NIH money? NIH does a lot of good things and really is basic research. We need it. Is it something you're concerned about?
Mark Casper
Yeah, so. So when I think about, we'll work very collaboratively with the administration. We did so in President Trump's first term and really had a strong reputation of doing what we said we were going to do, and that served us well. And, you know, we'll make sure that we're educating the various stakeholders on the importance of the nih because they. The NIH has been a backbone to fuel American industries, the biotech industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the diagnostics industry. Our sector, you know, it really is based on the backbone of the nih. And, you know, we'll look forward to collaborating from that perspective as well.
Jim Cramer
At the same time, I've not seen, I got to say, I look at every company that does business in China and what they're all fighting for is just hoping to be not down 10% and most of them can't do it. You have very good Chinese numbers and I know you boys had a great relationship with, with the Chinese people, Chinese companies, Chinese regime. It seems to have turned and yet there's no subsidies for the group. Is this just organic growth in China?
Mark Casper
Yes. So when I look at the year in China, the market conditions are muted, just as the way you characterized it. But we were able to grow our business and we grew our business in the low single digits for the full year and actually grew in the mid single digits in the fourth quarter. That's really a testament to our team just doing a great job in the relevance of our technologies, you know, strong demand for our instruments and you know, we continue to serve the life sciences customers well in China and we're able to get a little bit of growth in a challenged market condition. So we'll stay focused on customer success and deliver the best possible performance we can in China in 2020.
Jim Cramer
I just know something that you said that I find surprising. Big, Big Pharma back. I mean I've become convinced the big pharma is just going to ride out, be salespeople and pick off the, the pick up the young biotech companies. Has something changed? Do they realize they got to play a leadership role, get back and do more R and D?
Mark Casper
You know, when I think about the dialogue, whether they do that R and D organically from the very start or they buy a somewhat early stage company and then bring it to the market, they never buy something that's at the end line. They bring it in a certain stage where we then help them actually bring it, you know, through the clinical trials, ultimately scaling up the manufacturing and then to the market. So, you know, we'll help our customers whether it's accelerating the impact of their M and A or whether it's, you know, from the pipelines that they have right from the beginning and well, I.
Jim Cramer
Want to congratulate you across. A lot of people worried about the group. I think we should have all always thought of them as worried about individual companies. Your company has broken out. I knew that would happen, that you'd be the first. Mark Kaspers, President, Chairman, CEO of Thermo Fisher Scientific. A stock we've liked for, I don't know, how about 400 points? Great to see you, Mark.
Mark Casper
Jim, thanks for having me.
Jim Cramer
Absolutely. Stay with me.
Mad Money Team
Coming up, Waste not, want not. WM's earnings are in. See if it can turn trash into treasure next.
Dogtopia
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EY
What's at stake when administrations change from the first 100 days and beyond, EY brings insights on the issues that matter. Executive orders, regulation of AI, the fate of billions in tax credit, global trade and workforce stability. No matter the policy shifts, EY helps business and government leaders remain resilient and seize dynamic growth. Navigate the geopolitical and economic landscape with confidence.
Jim Cramer
One of these I don't like is people use these aggregate numbers from the government to find out what's going on. I say you got to spend less time focusing on that stuff like fourth quarter GDP and more time looking at my favorite unofficial indicator, which is the quarter report from wm, the garbage disposal operation known as waste management. Last night WM reported nice revenue beat improved profitability even as its earnings per share some felt came in light. Well, I don't care because more important they issued a better than expected full year four forecast. That's why the stock shot up more than 6% today. You know, this is the biggest single move since March 2020. And you know what? I think it may have more room to run. Let's think deep with Jim Fish, the presidency of wn. Well, I haven't seen Jim in a long time. Welcome back to the show.
Jim Fish
Thanks Jim.
Kevin Loeb
How are you?
Jim Cramer
I am doing well and I know you got your big golf tournament, but I'm going to be in New Orleans. I was in Phoenix when you had it last time. Obviously it's one of the best branding operations I've ever seen.
Jim Fish
Isn't is, it's fantastic. And you got to be excited about your eagles, right?
Jim Cramer
Well, yes, thank you. Thank you very much. We look good. Now talking about looking good, this was a quarter that I think some people were probably worried about. I don't know why. This was a quarter filled with optimism and opportunity. And tell us, give us a little breakdown of what that, of what was entailed here.
Jim Fish
Well, we have really three big earnings drivers and they're all, we're kind of clicking on all cylinders here. The first is of course our core business which has been doing well for a number of years and that that's looking to grow 7 over 7% this year on top of 10% last year. And then secondly, we have the stericycle business which we bought only about three months ago. And, and that business, I guess there was a few questions when we bought it and I think we've, we've pretty much answered all those Questions? Because today there's some real optimism around Stericycle. We felt good about it from the start. I think now the street feels good about it. We think that business has the opportunity to provide synergies double what we originally thought. Originally we said 125 million and now we're saying 250 million over a period of three years. We like the growth trajectory of the business, we like the medical waste business and the information destruction business. So. So we're excited about that. And then the third thing is the sustainability businesses. Renewable natural gas that naturally comes out of our landfills. We clean it up and turn it into pipeline quality gas. And then of course, we're rebuilding all of our recycle plants. All of that adds about, about $800 million in EBITDA over a period of, well, I guess Starting in 27, we'll see that $800 million.
Jim Cramer
I always regard that as found money because I remember the days when it really wasn't a factor. That's fantastic. I am very pro stacycle. I always liked that because it doesn't have any cyclicality. You do have some. I remember when you tell me, look, if there's a lot of homes being built, a lot of construction, then we get a little bit of a spike. This should smooth out any of that star cycle is big enough to actually smooth out what some people think is the cyclicality of wm.
Jim Fish
Well, I think it's right, it's, it's, it's a little bit of a natural hedge for us. To your point, there's not much cyclicality to it. There's not, there's hardly any seasonality to it at all. I mean, we have a little bit of seasonality in and our core business. This helps flatten that out. So I agree with you there.
Jim Cramer
Now let's talk about homebuilding, because you have mentioned it. I was glad to see that even though I know the home building is not doing that well in the country. Has it been as a minimize, as the part of the mosaic of your earnings?
Jim Fish
It has over the years. You know, it used to be close to 10% of our business and now it's probably less than half of that. So it's, it's not a, it's not a huge component of our business overall. So we do see it and we represent just about every segment of the economy really. And that includes the homebuilders, it includes the industrial side, includes residential. But for now, the residential home building, while it is maybe a little bit soft, is not having a Huge effect on us. I will say the industrial economy, and we talked a bit about that this morning on the call, has been soft and our industrial business has been soft and we didn't project it to rebound, even though we are optimistic with the new administration coming in. But, but there's other parts of our business that been very strong. The solid waste business in the landfills has been very good special waste projects. We're optimistic about those. So we've, we've built a business that, that doesn't have a lot of volatility to it because it does have a lot of natural hedges, including Stereocycle.
Jim Cramer
Now, I want to go back to the optimism comment. I know it's probably too soon for a lot of new contracts to, to come, but when I see people who have an industrial part of their business, there's a big spike in optimism. And I always say to people, let get out of the political war for a second and just talk about the actual animal spirits of business. Are you seeing people who want to expand their businesses because that would be more business for you simply because they feel better about the country and the country's economics?
Jim Fish
I don't know that we've seen it yet. I mean, and it'd be great if we do. But, but it's only been, you know, less than, I guess a week since, since the new administration's been in the office. So we are, as I said, cautiously optimistic about the future. I do think this administration is going to be pretty pro business and I expect that you'll see small business and big business alike feel good about, about making big capital investments to, to grow their own businesses just like we are.
Jim Cramer
Okay. On the, the optimism side versus pessimism with industrial. I had a nice. I know the guys from Prologis. They're really fabulous. Largest warehouse. They're seeing a bottoming process in that kind of business. Nucor is seeing a bottoming process in some of the steel business. Is there a way that we can see some green shoots that you can point to in industrial for you?
Jim Fish
I think we tend to be at the back end of the cycle. So, you know, we're a little bit later than those companies in terms of seeing green shoots. But when we do see them, they, you know, they're encouraging and I do think we'll see them. We just haven't put anything in our 2025 plan not say we won't. We don't expect it. I wanted to be conservative with that.
Jim Cramer
Plan on renewable natural gas. One thing is certain. This president wants to Be able to make it so that we can export, which to me says if we export, we're going to get out of this $2 region. Go baby, to $354 region is the bottom. What does that mean to your bottom line?
Jim Fish
That business? We're going to build 20 of those renewable natural gas plants. It still ends up being, you know, I mentioned 800 million, probably 500 of that comes from once were they're fully built out from the renewable natural gas business by the time we get to 2027. So 500 million on a base of of seven and a half billion is still relatively small. But it's important to us. We love the fact that the business just naturally occurs. I mean these landfills create gas and so we're able to take that gas, clean it up and put it onto the pipeline. We do think that that what you just mentioned about this administration wanting to become an exporter of gas probably has a positive impact on price and that will, will be a positive for us.
Jim Cramer
And how much of the of it do you use for your own trucks?
Jim Fish
About 70% of our trucks are natural gas. And I'm going to guess at this that I think it's about, about 3/4 of that today is renewable. And we'll get that over to, we'll get that to 100% here in the next couple of years. But right now it's about three quarters of the 70% that we burn in our trucks. That is natural.
Jim Cramer
Between that and the rope robotic aspect aspect you have so you don't have to have an additional person. The cost per truck, per people per truck must have gone down dramatically over the time since you came in.
Jim Fish
It has. Look, I would tell you this is, this is probably motivated as much by the fact that these, some of these job markets are shrinking. It becomes difficult to find folks to, you know, to drive a truck or to work on a piece of heavy equipment. Our average heavy equipment operator is approaching 53 years old and that's probably up 10 years from when I started with a company 23 years ago. Similar to the overall population, I think the American population average by that has gone up by an average of about 10 years. So this is almost by necessity that we're using technology to replace difficult to hire heads. I think one thing that I wanted to make sure I was clear on here though is we're not laying folks off. All we're doing is using attrition. Some of those jobs have very high turnover rates. In fact, the helpers on back of truck on the back of the truck. Those have as high as 50% turnover. And so as they leave those jobs, we just choose not to replace them and replace the old style rear loader with a new style automated side loader.
Jim Cramer
I'm so glad you mentioned that. So many people think that, oh no, they're taking the machines, are taking away the jobs. It's actually because of our low birth rate and the fact that some jobs are regarded as not what people want to do that you can't find people. So it's, it's necessity. It's not like you want to lay off people, save money. It's necessity. And that's why your company has always done a great job in trying to be able to get good in the community too. So I want to appreciate you coming on, Jim. It is always great to have you. That's Jim Fish, President, CEO of wm. Thank you for coming on and good luck at your tourney.
Jim Fish
Thanks very much, Jim. Take care.
Jim Cramer
Talk to you soon. Get money back here for the break.
Mad Money Team
Coming up, is it time to strike on Striker? Kramer digs into the company's latest report. Next.
Jim Cramer
Let'S talk about one of my favorite topics that people should be looking at besides just semiconductors measures. How about health care? While most health care stocks have been hit or miss since the election, at least until this week, some medical device stocks have been doing pretty darn well. And you know I like that sector. Take Stryker. It's a major player in medical, surgical, neurotechnology, especially orthopedic. After the close on Tuesday, Striker put a terrific top and bottom line beat. But because this guidance was only in line, the stock actually got dinged a bit in response. That was wrong. But it is up 3% for the year. So it's leaving most of the other health care names dust. Don't think of me. Let's check in with Kevin Loeb. He's the chairman and CEO of Stryker Corp. You get a better rebus. Welcome back to bed, buddy.
Thanks, Jim. Happy to be here.
You know, I am always blown away by your company's ability to find the right area and then go in it, get the best acquisitions and make money. I was on your website looking at this in our medical and I cannot believe how life saving what you're doing is from people who literally were told there's nothing we can do. This is a winner.
We're super excited about it. We already have a neurovascular business which has similar kinds of products that take clots out of the brain to protect from Aneurysms and stroke. This is a natural extension to actually go lower in the body and to remove the clots for pulmonary embolisms and deep vein thrombosis.
People die from what? The really terrific intro video, a woman who was very active and she got the clot and she was pretty much. It was almost fatal.
Absolutely. These are life saving technologies, just as they are in the neurovascular space. But for us, it's very complementary to neurovascular to have this business and it's growing 20% a year. This company and I kind of created the category. It's wildly exciting.
Incredible. Now at the same time, you do not get enough airtime for a business called the medical business. And I happen to have. Here's a little information and I want to call an Oscar me today. And I asked my doctor, what is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? It was all striker. Everything around me was stryker. You own this section of the market and people don't seem to realize how much money can be made.
Yeah, we do have a very diverse portfolio. And if you go into the hospital, if you're not already under anesthesia and you look around, you'll see the booms, the lights, the tables, the stretchers, the beds. It's all striker up. Absolutely. I mean, it's got those products, they're smaller products, so people don't really realize it, but they're growing double digits. Medical has been actually our fastest growing division the last five years.
Well, I kind of felt one of the things that my doctor said, he's been around, he said, we don't know who else is in it in the category. What a, what a great compliment to you.
Yeah, many of our categories, we have very, very high market shares.
Now I was watching on a video on your site about something that I thought is impossible to do when someone has a shoulder problem, they have a shoulder problem for the rest of their life. We all know that that's the one that no one solved. Mako Shoulder solving the problem.
Well, it's a brand new application on Mako. So Mako is a robotic assisted surgery, an acquisition from 11 years ago. It's used in almost 2/3 of knees in the United States. Our knees are implanted with Mako robot. Same with hips. And now we've just launched a shoulder application. So we do have total shoulder implants and we have a nice navigation system that helps surgeons do them. But the robot's going to make it very easy to do. It makes hard procedures easier to do. Safer, less invasive to the patient, faster recovery. So we're wildly excited about this new application that we've just launched in December.
Well, it's remarkable. I know you've got some how to videos, and I know it's something that operates itself from that point, but you want that.
Yeah, absolutely. It's robotic assistance. So the surgeon's still there.
Right.
But the surgeon really can't move outside the boundaries. So as they're making the cuts, the robot ensures that it's done precisely where the plan has been outlined.
Sensational. Now, we want people in health care to not go to the hospital if they can. We'd like them to go to ambulatory surgical centers, but we want them to be equal to what we get at a hospital. Again, Striker.
Yeah. In the ASCs or ambulatory surgery centers now, 17% of our needs are done there, about 15% of our hips. What's beautiful about this is you drive in, it's usually in that strip mall. There's no parking, it's close to your house, and you go home the same day. So everybody's healthy. There isn't anybody sick. It's not like going to a big hospital. And patients like it, the surgeons like it, the nursing staff likes it. And makos are very prevalent in here. So they do have the latest technologies in these surgery centers.
You told talk a lot about, I don't want to put this, but things that go wrong. Apparently feet and ankles. Jinx myself have been not that great. But knees and hips, obviously. I play a lot of pickle. I had a 22 person tourney and all we talked about was who was going to come out alive. This thing is something when you have baby boomers doing sports for the first time in a long time, you've got to be having a plethora of people who need new knees.
Yeah. Actually, since the pandemic. We had a spike after the pandemic, but that's kind of been burned off now.
Right.
And what we're seeing is an elevated level of demand because patients are more active.
Right.
12,000 people are turning 65 a day in the United States now. But this activity level, whether it's pickleball or other things, is really causing a lot of increased procedures. And now they're telling their friends, hey, I went to the surgery center. I went home the same day. I'm back to playing pickleball. And so the word is spreading about how great these procedures are.
Well, and it's very different what people think. I always hear people say, you know, I don't want to be laid up for a week in the hospital. I don't know what they're thinking now. A lot of people worried about tariffs. I felt completely reassured. On your call. You said at one point, look, we have one factory in Mexico. I mean, if that really is just shrug your shoulders. Who cares with you guys?
For Stryker, I mean for the industry. There are a lot of factors.
The industry. Industry is filled with problems.
That's right.
But not you guys.
We're very. We have a very little impact at all. Even with even China. Hardly any products that we're bringing in from China, even input materials. And only one factory out of over 40 factories.
Okay. And you have a strategy that I always recommend for people who are owning stocks. If you're going to bring in a new stock that's good, make sure you trim and don't just say, you know what, I'm going to ride the whole portfolio. If something's not working, you actually sell. Say it. And the implant spine business was not something you wanted anymore? Yeah.
Over my 12 year tenure, that has been the lowest performing business. And we've tried multiple times. We've just had too many challenges. And it's kind of a 1% grower. Over the 12 year period and work as a company, our growth rate's gone from 4% organically to now three years in a row growing double digits. So really it's just an asset that's better in the hands of someone else.
Well, I was going to say that people nap that are. That you guide up and you guide up and you guide up and you got. And it is a remarkable machine that you run. Sir, thank you so much too. I want to thank Kevin Loeb. He's the chair and CEO of Stryker. Now when you look at it, you're going to say I missed it. Okay, but you know that at 200 they felt that. At 300 they felt that. At 350 they felt that. Use common sense. When good companies have stocks, the stocks go higher. Their money's back in.
Mad Money Team
Coming up, lightning doesn't just strike twice in Cramerica.
EY
Thanks for taking my call.
Mad Money Team
It strikes every day. Kramer is back in a flash with your questions.
Jim Fish
Next.
Jim Cramer
It is time. It's time for the white round. Creamer. That's a raptor card horse. You're saying the docker tutor. Bye bye Bye. Sells his hill just from 300 under the course. Knock forces ahead of time. I step in front of the graphics on the fly. You're playing the sound and then the lightning Round is over. Are you ready? Ski dag dun the lightning round. Crazy. I'm gonna start with Tony in Pennsylvania. Tony, hey, thank you for taking my call.
Jim Fish
I'd like to know your take on Azo.
Jim Cramer
Okay, now listen to me and listen to me good. Azo is a great stock. And you always hear people say, well, wait a second. They buy a lot of parts, autozone from China, so therefore it's no good. Forget that autozone is good. They buy a lot of their own stock. Let's go to Reach in New Jersey. Reach.
Kevin Loeb
Hello? Jim, Hi.
Jim Cramer
Hi.
Kevin Loeb
I'm so glad I could reach you. I've been listening to you forever and learned a lot. And thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Jim Cramer
Doing it right then other than what he.
Kevin Loeb
Okay. I want to ask you about Roger Marks, a friend of mine, who I think he may be the father of Jeff Marks.
Jim Cramer
I don't know, but love, love, love, love, love, love. All right. What stock, though?
Kevin Loeb
Yeah, well, it's stock I was going to buy a long time ago. I did buy it. Roger said, no, don't do it. I think it was a political thing. And it went down and down and down and now it's turned around and I believe in it. It's Plains All American pipeline.
Jim Cramer
Oh, why didn't you say so? I like that stock. Still got a 7% yield. I need one more call. Don't cut me off. They're cutting me off. They want me to go to SeatGeek in China again. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the conclusion of the Lightning Round.
Mad Money Team
The Lightning Round is sponsored by Charles Schwab.
Jim Cramer
Some of you may be wondering, how the heck could the stock of Tesla actually rally almost 3% today after putting numbers that were seemingly disappointing? The core auto business is doing that well, but nobody seemed to care. Well, that's because Elon Musk knows what his investors want, and it's not great auto numbers from 2024 they want. His vision for the future must a nonlinear thinker with a terrific grasp of showmanship. He knows how to come up with incredible ideas, he knows how to pitch them, and most important, he knows how to execute. So Tesla's not rallying because of the numbers, which were indeed not that good. It's rallying because of Musk's extraordinary performance on the conference call. I want to distort the two different buckets, linear bucket and the nonlinear bucket. First bucket. Tesla didn't make enough cars last year. They didn't sell enough cars. You're crazy, though, if you believe that electric cars aren't coming and being bigger and bigger. Why? Because once Musk delivers better cars, newer cars, better technology, they'll start growing again. And he's going to do that this year. So why sell based on last year's numbers? That makes no sense. He's talking about Robotaxis coming in a couple of months at Austin, Texas and it's going to blow you away how much better they are than human taxis. He's made a very compelling argument. You simply can't decide. It's stop the self driving cars. They're the future. But that was practically a sideshow compared to my favorite part, the non linear side of the conference call that was all about robots, the Optimus program. I guess his kids like playing with Transformers. Musk's talking about real robots, ones that can do anything we can do physically, but better. The trick is actually manufactured. Musk laments that manufacturing ain't what it used to be. Too many lawyers and bankers, they should go make things. That's what he wants. Is whined about it. Most most of us believe him. And I was both of those things. Still, he says his team can do all the hard manufacturing we need. The idea behind Optimus the robot program is simple. You'll have a robot that can do all the boring things that you don't want to do. All the hack work, all the dangerous tasks, as he puts it. Quote, we expect to just close the loop with Optimus being used internally at Tesla. Because we obviously can easily use several thousand humanoid robots at Tesla for the most boring, annoying task. The factory. Like a test nobody wants to do where we have to like beg people to do this task, end quote. He goes on, I love this. It's like the robot is totally happy to do the boring, dangerous, repetitive task that no humans want to do. Musk says he'll make a million of these things with a cost to manufacture at less than $20,000 per unit. Now by the way, that's all it's always been something that Jensen Long has produced, predicted and it looks like Musk will do it. At the very least, he's made a strong argument that he'll be the one to get it done. Remember, this technology doesn't have to stop at the factory floor. We all have plenty of things we don't want to do. Imagine having a robot to do your chores. Could load the dishwasher. I'm always getting yelled at about the dishwasher because I'm terrible at it. She could be a marriage saver. Only the small minded regulators could get in his way, especially when talking about robo taxis and self driving. But Musk tells us not to worry. The tipping point is almost at hand. It's simple when we know for a fact that autonomous cars are much safer than humans, something he says will be obvious in a short period of time, and we'll go autonomous. If any other CEO in America tried to pull off what he did last night, reporting a not so hard quarter, then trying to dazzle shareholders with a brilliant vision of the future, they'd all be laughed out of the industry. But Musk has such an incredible track record when he says this stuff. People believe him and I don't blame them. I believe him too. He's made his investors so much money over the years, how can he not deserve the benefit of the doubt? Even if you hate Musk's recent move into politics, you can't deny that he's an incredible money maker. Why bet against him when you got Tesla? So you can bet with him, I like to say, as always a bull market summer. I promise I'd find it just for you right here at midmoney option. Favorite See you tomorrow.
American Express
All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Kramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal or their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by Kramer on television, radio, Internet or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed by Jim Cramer as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion. Kramer's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Mad Money disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com madmoneydisclaimer Is it time to reimagine your future? The right business skills may make a difference in your career. At Capella University we offer a relevant education that that's designed to focus on what you need to know in the business world. We'll teach professional skills to help you pursue your goals like business management, strategic planning, and effective communication, and you can apply these skills right away. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at Capella Eduardo.
Mad Money with Jim Cramer – Episode Summary (January 30, 2025)
Introduction
In the January 30, 2025, episode of Mad Money with Jim Cramer, host Jim Cramer delves deep into the financial landscape, offering insights into stock performances, CEO interviews, and strategic investment advice. The episode is rich with discussions on various industries, highlighting both opportunities and challenges in the market.
Market Overview
Jim Cramer kicks off the episode by highlighting the day's market movements:
Cramer notes: “In a day where the average did well... you know what it may pay to think bigger instead of just being in the tech battleground out here every day” (00:00).
Focus on Leadership and Company Performance
Cramer emphasizes the importance of leadership in driving company success. He argues that the quality of a company's CEO can significantly impact its stock performance, stating:
"We don't talk enough about the people who run the enterprise around here. [...] If you want to make huge amounts of money, which you do the transcendence of the enterprise thanks to the leadership of a great CEO, why not celebrate it?" (00:00).
Apple’s Earnings Report
Apple's recent earnings report is dissected, highlighting both weaknesses and strengths:
Cramer remarks: “I am tired of tech just sitting there and people arguing about all the time. It's getting boring to me and that's why I want to go far afield.” (00:00).
Spotlight on Turnaround CEOs
Cramer shifts focus to companies experiencing significant growth under new leadership. He highlights several CEOs who have transformed their companies, turning them into lucrative investments:
Kevin O’Hockman – Brinker International
Brian Niccol – Starbucks
Larry Culp – General Electric (GE)
Nikash Arora – Palo Alto Networks (PANW)
Daryl Bracken – VF Corp
Interview with Mark Casper – Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Revival
Cramer interviews Mark Casper, CEO of Thermo Fisher Scientific, discussing the company's recent performance and future outlook.
Cramer asks: “Do we have to worry at all about this, the new president, administration, and a possible freeze of NIH money?” (20:05).
Mark Casper responds: “We'll make sure that we're educating the various stakeholders on the importance of the NIH...we're seeing optimism in the biotech community that's strengthening.” (20:20).
Strategic Insights
Cramer praises Casper: “I knew that would happen, that you'd be the first. [...] Great to see you, Mark.” (22:59).
Interview with Jim Fish – Waste Management (WM)
WM’s Strategic Growth and Innovation
Cramer engages with Jim Fish, CEO of Waste Management, discussing the company's recent earnings and strategic initiatives.
Cramer highlights: “We're not laying folks off. All we're doing is using attrition.” (32:19).
Sustainability and Innovation
Fish explains: “We're rebuilding all of our recycle plants. [...] This helps flatten that out.” (29:07).
Interview with Kevin Loeb – Stryker Corp.
Stryker’s Medical Innovations
Cramer interviews Kevin Loeb, CEO of Stryker, focusing on the company’s advancements in medical technology.
Cramer enthuses: “These are life-saving technologies...what you own this section of the market and people don't seem to realize how much money can be made.” (35:29).
Technological Integration and Market Expansion
Loeb states: “We have very little impact at all...only one factory out of over 40 factories.” (40:17).
Lightning Round: Quick Stock Picks
In the Lightning Round segment, Cramer responds to callers with buy, sell, or hold recommendations:
Kyle from New Jersey (11:03)
Tony from Pennsylvania (42:16)
Reach from New Jersey (42:35)
Tesla’s Rally Analysis
Cramer concludes the episode with an analysis of Tesla’s stock performance:
Cramer emphasizes: “If any other CEO in America tried to pull off what he did last night... they'd all be laughed out of the industry. But Musk has such an incredible track record.” (43:44).
Conclusion
The episode wraps up with Cramer reiterating his commitment to finding investment opportunities and encouraging viewers to remain optimistic about market potentials:
"We're never going to stop searching for opportunities to make you money on mad money." (00:00).
Notable Quotes
Key Takeaways
This summary encapsulates the core discussions and insights from the January 30, 2025, episode of Mad Money with Jim Cramer, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened to the episode.