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Jim Cramer
Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Kramerica. Other people make friends. I'm just trying to save a little bit of money here. My job is not just to entertain, but to educate, to explain days like today. So call me at 1-800-743- CNBC or tweet meyimkramer. Goodbye February. You will forever be known as a heartbreaker. You demolished software, you minimized hardware, and then you took apart the King Nvidia and you decided that the winners were these pro se companies with popular brands like PepsiCo1 Hershey, Procter Gamble, Colgate or Terrific Drug Co. JJ Novartis, AbbVie or Earth Movers like Caterpillar and Deere. Everything else most likely February didn't. Ain't got nothing for you. Okay, including today when The Dow plunged 521 points S&P was.43%. Nasdaq nosed I.92%. Some of the biggest really getting filled. It was a month of indecision because inflation's running hotter. But it was also a month that should have been better. Thanks to falling interest rates, the rates are really getting low again. On the other hand, it was a month where it dawned on people that obscure terms like private credit could spell real trouble. Something goes wrong, I'm looking at you, Blue Owl. I don't know if you are ready for this amount of scrutiny. Will the negativity continue into March? We may find out this very weekend as the President seems eager to go to war with Iran. The markets haven't been rattled by his sabre rattling, although oil's up 70% year to date. And when I spoke to Kalkinsu today it oil's become such a big part of the inflation story that, well, people get nervous. Now we are washing oil, so let's not freak out, please. That rally came entirely from predictions that a ramble shut down the Strait of Hormuz and that's the most important oil artery on earth. Tomorrow we'll find out what a buffet list bulletin sounds like from Berkshire Hathaway. That's right. I'm betting the new CEO Greg Abel will opt for a much more low key style than his predecessor. We'll listen for words of wisdom though. Maybe we'll get some. I think he's a business person trying to make as much money for you as he can. Look out Norwegian Cruise reports on Monday and the activists at Elliott Management are after this company to start performing a little more like the standouts Royal Caribbean and Viking Holdings. Elliott said some real wins of late Honeywell, Southwest air, Texas Instruments, J.M. smucker. The latter true shocker given that it includes Hostess brands, a junk food that was supposed to be obliterated by the GOP Dutch ones. My suggestion for Norwegian Cruise Sell yourself to Disney, which is desperate for ships as there's a big ship shortage. It's an $11 billion company, this Norwegian. Disney could write a check like this and sell the smaller ships, refurbish only the largest ones and make the cruise line a much bigger part of their business. Instantly that matters. Disney stock is stuck in cable TV purgatory. It could soar if it finds a way to build itself as a more of a vacation paradise company. I know it would be radical and it might look it might take some time to retune the fleet to Disney standards. By my count, there are at least 10 Norwegian ships that could be made over as Disney ships. Right now Disney has seven ships, soon to be eight. They're more upscale than Norwegian but they can be fixed. I think it's a smart move is ordering a new cruise ship takes about five years. It's the time that's the problem, not just the money. Now time is right for Disney if they do. You know why? Because the new CEO, Josh demaro, well, he ran the cruise ship business. So I say we buy Norwegian and put the emphasis emphasis on entertainment and not linear tv, which is that would be behind us. David Faber and I talk about linear TV all the time and we know how terrible it's doing. Tuesday morning's back to retail. Target's got a new CEO, Mike Fidelke, and I imagine we're going to start with holding him accountable instantly, even though he just got the job. His predecessor, Brian Cornell took matters into his own hands immediately when he became CEO and shed the money losing Canadian division, which was just crushing Target. It was a gutsy thing and people loved him immediately. Target situation is a difficult one. It lacks the scale and reach of Amazon, Wal Mart or Costco. Mike's going to have to reinvent to stay relevant, I think, and he's got to do it quickly. Best Buy reports. Now this is a tricky one. We keep hearing that they'll be punished for having too many devices that are going up in price because of the cost of memory. The cost of memory, like those little semiconductors really seems to matter these days to even the PC business or the gaming business after the close, CrowdStrike reports. Now this is an incredibly skilled outfit that protects a huge number of clients from cybercriminals. Its CEO George Kurtz is a maniac for stopping cyber terrorism and they play offense all the time. CrowdStrike's an expensive stock though, and its price earnings multiple got compressed when Anthropic, the very aggressive business to business AI platform, last week invaded its turf with something that can help make agents safer. Look, in reality, CrowdStrike doesn't actually compete with Anthropic Partners, for heaven's sake. So it shouldn't have been crushed like that. But the stock hasn't stepped back either because these days investors simply don't want to pay up for quality merchandise. I stand by CrowdStrike, but which is why we own it for the Chapel Trust. One day soon expertise will matter again and the stock will go higher. But maybe not in time for crowd strikes. Quarter Wednesday morning, we're going to hear from a real tricky one too. A lot of tricky ones actually. Brown Forman. This is the maker of Jack Daniels. I know the liquor market's gotten talked because of pesky young people who don't like to drink much, instead like to work out. And plus there's this gop, that's one issue. But why is the stock up more than 10% year to date? Could there be something going on here? Something good? Something is not good to its competitor Diagnosis, which is doing really badly. After close Broadcom reports a $1.5 trillion company makes semis in software really doesn't get enough attention given its size. Now some of the chips are sold to Alphabet, which is a big buyer. That said, Broadcom needs to get new clients. Right now. It's caught in the software decline stemming from AI fears. I think the decline's wrong. You don't get the $1.5 trillion for doing nothing right. But you know what? This is one of those that's just too hard to own right now. And I know that. And I sense that today when we had our monthly meeting. Now we're going to listen to Octa too, the company that protects identities. I'm sure that CEO Todd McKinnon will do a good job. I just don't know once again if it matters because this market seems to decide that anything Okta can do, a chatbot can do better. Next. I have a special place in my heart for Costco. I stop every time I see one when I'm on the road. They're almost always exciting and different. You need to go aisle by aisle to get the goods. I grab my own cart. My wife gets a different cart because we don't like the same stuff. We do end up at the register and try to merge, even though others don't like that because we get in front of them. I don't mean to really cut like that. She has the credit card, not me. I try to go on an empty stomach so I can eat the samples. Never go to Costco on a full stomach. There you only take one thing away from the show. It's that. All that said, we want to see how many people re up when they are. Costco cards expire. That's the key number now, the key metric. Lately the number hasn't progressed. In fact, it's going downhill. What is that about? I think it's largely younger people who fall out of love with Costco. They do. They do e commerce. They don't know what a bargain looks like. They hit them over the head anyway. They're silly. Marvell Tech reports on Thursday and people are expecting big things because of its partnerships with several hyperscalers, most notably Amazon Web Services, which is selling out of its chips. The demand is so big here that it was mentioned by name in today's when we when everyone was talking about it. Marvel CEO Matt Murphy does a remarkable job. I think the stocks are by going into the quarter. That's right. I'm actually recommending buying Marvell ahead of the earnings now. Also on Thursday, very exciting. Caterpillar is part of a fireside Shadowcloth Expo. That's that annual construction trade show that you and I probably don't go to. But sounds like a real hoot. Their CEO Joe Creed, a total straight shooter, might talk about how people are using Caterpillar generators to power data centers. All very exciting. I kick myself daily for not getting to that one. And I don't know if they'll let me out for my job here to go attend Con Expo. Maybe next year. Finally on Friday, we get the labor department's nonfarm payroll figures. We'll keep waiting to see the impact of employment. We haven't seen it yet, but you know why? I think it's because the expected firms aren't really laying off anyone. They're just hiring fewer people or none at all. Bottom line, this was a bruising week, capping off a bitter month. Let's hope March doesn't come in like a lion or a bear. But I can't imagine how we're going to see a steer and how we'll ever find this miserable place after this week. Hey, how about we go to Cordell? Cordell in Ohio. Cardell.
Caller
Thank you Jim, for having me on today.
Jim Cramer
I'm thrilled you're on the show. Thrilled.
Caller
Okay. Thank you. I appreciate everything you do for the investors that invest with you and also that call into your show and just want to thank you for all your information.
Jim Cramer
Thank you, man. You know we try so hard and it's great when I hear it because it makes it all worthwhile. Thank you. How can I help you?
Caller
Well, I'm calling in about a company that's currently up for the year and I was just wondering due to multi expansion and pricing for products and I know that I believe this company has a pretty solid management team. What other headwinds will face a company like Starbucks due to tariffs?
Jim Cramer
That came great question. Okay, here's the other things that can really hurt Starbucks. And you know, I'm a big believer in a big position by Travel Trust. What can hurt them is the inability to be able to close all the stores that aren't doing that well and then put the money towards the ones that are doing well. And that's what you have. That's how you have to get same store sales. And it's very difficult for Brian Nicholl to say, ok, that store closed, this store open. We see a lot of IT in New York, by the way, he has to get the Starbucks into the middle of the country. They're underrepresented in the middle and they're overrepresented the coast. And I think he's going to take care of that, but it just takes time. Time. I want to go to Ned in Ohio.
Caller
Ned, hello. Professor Kramer. It's been great to hear you back on the Mad Money program this week, sir. How are you?
Jim Cramer
Thank you. I am fine, thank you. How are you?
Caller
I'm doing well, sir. By the way, I want to wish you a belated happy birthday.
Jim Cramer
Oh, thank you.
Caller
For your birthday because it's one day ahead of mine.
Jim Cramer
Oh, well, there you go. He's 2-2-11. Isn't that terrific? My same day. Same as my best friend David Haass when I was growing up. All right, so how do we let's work together. What do we have?
Caller
Well, I want to ask you about Key Corp. I've held it for a while and it's appreciated over time.
Jim Cramer
I think you should continue to hold it. Just continue at that 4% yield. You got Chris Gorman doing this job. You've got a $20 stock down a dollar today. I actually would advise people if this Stock fell to 19, I think you pull the trigger. I am a big backer of Key Corp. All right. February was a rough month. Let's hope March is a little better. Too much to ask? I'm already doing companies that build things are hot stocks right now. So is now the time to build a position in one that you work is going to knock your socks off. It's called Sterling Infrastructure. Don't miss my Susan with the company's top brass then flutter. Shares have been dropping out of the sky lately. What has got going on there? I'm taking a closer look at the gaming industry and you probably don't want to hear anything about it, but we're still going to. And we held our investing club monthly meeting today and we had so many great questions from members, we decided to take a few more tonight so you get a feel about what the club's all about. So stay with Kramer.
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Let's get them over with. This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and subscribe@schwab.com MarketUpdatePodcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.
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Not every sale happens at the register before AT&T business Wireless, checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sail or two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time.
Jim Cramer
Sometimes AT&T business Wireless Connecting changes everything. I want to talk about one of the hottest stocks out there that you maybe never even heard of. It's called Sterling Infrastructure. Now this is an engineering construction firm that pivoted from old fashioned highway work into high margin mission critical infrastructure like data centers a few years ago. That's why this stock is up a staggering 1800% over the past five years, including nearly 250% gain over the past 12 months and a 40% gain year to date. Now two nights ago sterling reported what I thought was a strong quarter, robust top and bottom line beat for 51% revenue growth, a stunning 78% increase in the backlog. Even better, management has a higher than expected full year forecast. They're talking 25% revenue growth and 26% earnings growth. Yet the stock has actually gotten dinged a bit in response to these numbers. Opportunity. What's going on here? Let's check in with Joe cotilla. He's the CEO of Sterling Infrastructure to find out. Mr. Patilla, welcome to Mayor Money.
Joe Cotilla
Thanks Jim, and thanks for having me.
Jim Cramer
All right, well your your company is an incredibly exciting company. It wasn't when you got there, but you have made it into probably what would be a fan favor for everybody who listens to all these things about data centers without any of the overruns and aplomb that they may have. Tell us about the transformation that you did with Sterling and how it's doing now.
Joe Cotilla
Yeah, so, you know, when I came in, our business was about 90% low bid, heavy highway work, not a market that's really great. Super high risk, super low reward. If you're the low bidder, you win. Doesn't matter your value, your capabilities or anything along those lines. And more so than that, we had a change in philosophy. The company was focused on revenue growth. Assuming profit would fall through in our focus shifted to margin growth in cash flow. And what that does is that drives you away from those margin margin markets. Sorry. That are very volatile, very low margins into areas of high growth, high value propositions and where you can really put a service or offering to a customer that no one else can.
Jim Cramer
But if you're going to do infrastructure work in your company your size, where do you get the people? Because the stuff that we're talking about, at least when I talk to a core weave, is really, really difficult and very few people actually even know how to do it.
Joe Cotilla
Yeah, it's, it's certainly a challenge. We have as a country, right. We have, we as a society of downplayed trades. And trades are absolutely critical to everything we do. We've been very fortunate on. We have two parts of our infrastructure segment, the site development side, which is a heavy yellow iron. We do literally build cities underground that they can build facilities. On top of that labor, we have a very good track record of getting. We tend to pay more. Our guys work 60 hours a week. And we have the biggest and most powerful toys in the industry.
Jim Cramer
Right.
Joe Cotilla
So we can attract that talent. The electrical side of our business, which we recently added here last year, that's, that's more challenging. The electricians aren't as readily available as machine operators, so we've got training programs. We have our own university in place. We're out recruiting from some of the trade schools, a multitude of things to keep up with the pace of demand that's coming at us.
Jim Cramer
Okay, so when we hear about a $30 billion data center, what is the, what kind of stuff do you do? Yeah, get the call.
Joe Cotilla
So if you step back at $30 billion data centers, probably three, 400 acre site in. What people don't understand is these aren't data centers anymore, they're data campuses. There's.
Jim Cramer
Okay, that's a really important point.
Joe Cotilla
Yeah, there's, there's multiple buildings on these and there's multiple years of build out. So we will come in with a virgin piece of land, we'll put in all the underground infrastructure. Take a mountain in a valley, make it flat in, and then they're ready to pour the pad and start the building. In addition to that, now we'll do all the outside electrical running into that building. So the duct banks the power from the substation into the building, and then the building's ready to be built. Once the building's up, then we will start doing the electrical package inside the building at that point in time. So on that type of project, the exterior, the site development package on that would probably be 3 to $400 million. The electrical package on each one of those buildings is about $500 million. So if there's seven buildings on that, you can do the math.
Jim Cramer
Right? Okay, so. But you're the first person who's ever broken this down for me. See, I've always. When I hear these numbers, I just think, what the hell? Why is it so much money? But to find the people, the electricians, to put all that in is not like doing a home. It's not like doing 20 homes. No.
Joe Cotilla
And the thing that people don't realize is when we're doing the electrical work on a data center, we're not doing all those buildings. We don't have each one of those buildings takes three to 500 electricians just to do one building. So you multiply that by seven. There's usually multiple of us. And the way our customers tend to do it is one company will get building one, a company will get building two, and then you'll get building three when that gets built. Right. So they're. They have enough capacity and certainty that they'll get it built on.
Jim Cramer
Okay, you've also done. You did some M and A that I think was critical to the stuff that we're talking about, correct?
Joe Cotilla
That's right. We bought a company in, in Dallas called cec, and they do the electrical. They started in the semiconductor world and still have a nice piece of semiconductor. So for us, we had great presence in data center. We're pulling them strongly in the data centers. We can marry the outside electrical package with the site development package. We can actually take months of lead time out of the project for our customers. And at the end of the day, what we deliver is a project on time, every time faster than anybody else. Because you got that $30 billion project, an extra three months of time to build. That is significant cost to the customer.
Jim Cramer
Well, Joe, did you ever think that your stock would have this kind of run?
Joe Cotilla
I'm pretty optimistic. This might be a little higher than when I started in 2000, people talk about in video.
Jim Cramer
I mean, I want to be in this one. Right.
Joe Cotilla
We've outperformed the video over the time frame. Yeah, you have. Yeah. And this is higher than we thought. But it goes back, Jim, if you, if you focus on a philosophy that says we will always move towards better margin and better cash flow, you end up in markets that you don't necessarily think about today. And I will tell you, five years from now, seven years from now, we'll be in stuff that none of us even think about today. But that philosophy pulls you into that better work. And I always tell folks that, you know, you don't make a lot of money, you don't see a lot of high margin, high cash flow businesses and commodities.
Jim Cramer
Right.
Joe Cotilla
They're in a specialty, high growth field. And how do we find.
Jim Cramer
Well, I got to tell you, I think you're amazing. I think your company's amazing. This is very exciting for me. I am in the midst of hearing about companies that are being reckless and throwing around money. If they're hiring Sterling, they're not throwing around money recklessly. You're going to give them a good deal.
Joe Cotilla
Yeah, we partner in, people will ask us about our margins and we have very good industry margins. I like to tell you we do it on price. It's not price. We're, we're very competitive on price. And you know, we still see people try to compete against us. Our value proposition is if I tell you that that data center is going to be ready for a slab on June 30, you better have the concrete crews there probably a week earlier too because we're going to get it done every time on time and we make our, our profitability or our increased margins through project management and technology. I think people would be shocked to see what we do with drones, what we've done with AI already within our business, on our job sites, what data and information we're pulling off our equipment constantly. It's fascinating. So it is almost a quasi little technology.
Jim Cramer
Well, I think you do a great job is the kind of thing I got to get my charitable trust in. You know, we got to get away from these companies that spend well beyond their means, take down all sorts of debt and hope yours doesn't sound like one of those companies.
Joe Cotilla
No, we're cash positive. We got a great balance sheet and a lot of dry powder for more acquisition.
Jim Cramer
I like this. This is Joseph Cotilla. He's the CEO of Sterling Infrastructure. Everybody's back at the coming up, the
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sports betting stocks have been getting hammered lately, but Kramer's not seeing a bounce back coming anytime soon. He'll explain using the case of Flutter Entertainment next. You don't just pour concrete and frame walls. You build schools, stadiums, and city streets that stand the test of time. Every beam, every bolt, every foundation put in place by your hands.
Jim Cramer
And hard work.
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Because when the job's done, it's landmarks left for generations built by pros like you. This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and subscribe@schwab.com MarketUpdatePodcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.
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Not every sale happens at the register. Before AT&T business Wireless, checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people will say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sale or two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time.
Sponsor Voice
Sometimes AT&T business Wireless Connecting Changes Everything.
Jim Cramer
For months now, the online sports books have been crushed by worries about new competition from prediction markets like CalSHI and polymarket that's dragged down the two kings of Online sports betting, DraftKings and Florida Flutter Entertainment, the latter being the parent company of FanDuel. Now Flutter had an opportunity to change that narrative when reported last night, but they blew it, with the stock plunging another $17 or 14% today. I want to take a closer look at this because the decline here is frankly staggering. Flutter peaked at $313 change in early August and now it's only at 166. It lost 66% of its value in barely more than six months. DraftKings has more than been cut in half over roughly the same period. Now. Some of that's thanks to new competition from the prediction markets. Even Robin has gotten in the action. They're offering football prediction markets when the season started last year. That's exactly When Flutter and DraftKings saw their stocks peak. No coincidence, with each week of the past NFL season, the prediction markets seem to report higher and higher volumes for their sports related markets. Originally, the online sportsbooks didn't seem to worry about the competition. But as the football season went on, both DraftKings and Fandor responded by getting the prediction markets themselves. They both made the move in November and both announced these initiatives right here on money. Because the prediction markets don't gamble themselves. They're merely making a market. They can avoid owner state level regulations on sports betting. The only regulators they need to worry about are at the federal level and that's not a concern. Why? Because the Trump administration has already ruled in their favor. Probably Think of it does probably hurt that Don Jr. Is an investor in Polymarket and a paid advisor to Kalshee. Now, even after all the Cornstream football season, Flutter and DraftKings finally saw their stocks stabilize in November December. But once 2026 got rolling, oh boy, there happened again. The stocks fell off a cliff. Some of that was because Calcium Polymarket kept putting up big football numbers two weeks ago while we were off the air during the Winter Olympics, DraftKings reported. And while the quarter itself wasn't it was fine. Their full year forecast was much weaker than expected. Which brings me last night the bulls here had one last hope and that was Flutter. They thought Flutter would say something, anything that changed the narrative when it reported this. Unfortunately, Flutter Flutter did even worse than DraftKings. Their quarterly reports were disappointing, a meaningful top and bottom line miss, and their full year guidance was downright Putrid. Flutter expects 1775-1905 billion dollars in revenue. This year's economy, when Wall street was looking for something like 19.3 billion, their forecast for earnings before interest taxes depreciated amortization was over a half billion dollars weaker than expected. That's huge at the midpoint of the range. No wonder the stock tanked today. It should have. When you listen to the conference call commentary, there's some crazy stuff happening here. All this year we heard that the online sports books were suffering because the clients won too much. You can understand why that's a problem for Flutters FanDuel. But this time we heard that the clients lost too much. And turns out that's also a problem because of a new gambling term that frankly, it's new to me. It's called recycling. Basically, when betters on FanDuel win, Flutter doesn't really mind because these people typically end up recycling their winnings. In other words, they just bet on something else until the money's gone. But this time, because the house won so much, there was far less recycling. FanDuel won too much, so people ended up walking away. I think it's much easier to walk away now that people have many more alternatives. That's what I think matters. FanDuel winning too frequently would not have been a problem for the company two years ago, but now it's a problem. Too many places to go. On top of that, Flutter said, quote, the second half of the NFL season saw less compelling content with fewer popular teams and favorite players making the playoffs, end quote. Which hurt engagement. You know what there that makes sense to me. I know it makes sense to you. I mean, look, I'm not, I'm not trying to slam the New England Patriots or slag the Seattle Seahawks, but this was a really boring playoff season and I'm very boring. Sumo, for example, when the chief's not in the past, what you know that means no Patrick Bones and Travis Kelsey for the Swifties to watch. People too doubt and didn't bet as much. Now, the issue that I don't quite understand is this. CEO Peter Jackson said, quote, our standard generosity playbook proved less effective in Q4 as our investment phasing did not sufficiently align with the problem of sports results during the period. Now, end quote. Now listen, I mean, basically it seems like the promotions that FanDuel offered either didn't resonate or simply didn't work because bettors lost so many games versus the house and tuned out anyway. But then Jackson went on to say, quote, as a result, we saw a higher churn within our customer base and a result in loss of market share, end quote. Now, immediately afterwards, Jackson was quick to add, quote, we also don't believe prediction markets are having a meaningful impact on our business, end quote. Clearly, denial is not just a river in Egypt. Who the heck does he think his company is losing market share to if not the prediction market? That said, looking forward, I'm going to entertain the idea that people have gotten too negative on Flutter stock. The growth company, still growing, it's still profitable, and its shares are starting to look pretty darn cheap. It sells at 12 and a half times this year's earnings estimates and less than nine times next year's numbers. But maybe those numbers won't come through. Some of the problems there could be temporary betters, could start winning again at a more normal clip and return to the platform, and things tend to average out right. Speaking as an NFL fan, I sure hope the playoffs are less boring next year. Hard to imagine that could be worse. But at the end of the day, Flutter's latest quarter didn't do a thing to change the narrative that they're losing share to the prediction markets. When while Flutter denied that the prediction markets are a serious problem, they confirm that they're losing share to Somebody, of course management said it wasn't because of the prediction markets. Instead, they pointed to a vague issue with that generosity playbook. But why should anyone believe them? So, unfortunately, I don't see what breaks Flutter out of its current downtrend other than the stock simply becoming too cheap to ignore. But that's a dangerous game because if the company continues to lose market share, then those earnings estimates might prove to be too high. And when the actual numbers come out, the stock will turn out to be more expensive than it seemed. It sure feels like that's going to be the case. Bottom line here. The stocks of the main online sports books have been getting killed for months as Wall street bet that the online prediction market would eat them alive. So far, those fears have been mostly theoretical. But last night's quarter from Flutter was simply not strong enough to dispel those concerns. In fact, they confirmed that the losing market share. So the stock got crushed again. Even if you want to go bottom fishing here, I say don't catch your line until these guys come to grips with the fact that the prediction markets are the real problem. As long as they're in denial about that, it's too dangerous to stick your neck out for this one. Let's go Sam in Pennsylvania. Sam.
Caller
Jim, I have quite a quandary for you. You know, I've been looking at Nike for a couple of years now, and they're in this continual rebuilding phase of their, of their earnings. I went through the earnings call. I was concerned that the CEO, Elliot Hill, not once did I see a mention of products quality. And as a consumer and an investor in the stock, that is what is going to drive demand. It's the quality of the product that's been the issue plaguing the company. And they're like running blind trying to solve these issues. And spe. If they're going to spend money on anything, it should be spending money on the quality. That's what we want as consumers, is good quality.
Jim Cramer
Tell you. Okay, so I would tell you, let's say, Sam, we brought Elliot Hill here. He would say that the number one thing we have to prove on is quality. He would totally agree with you. The problem is, I think that they got run down and you can't turn around a fashion play in two, three, four, or maybe even five quarters. We have to wait a full maybe year and maybe two years to see what he does. That's how poorly the company was doing, that he received. And he's doing his best. The Chapel Trust owns it right now. It's disappointing. But I'm betting that with more time it will not be disappointing. That's all I can tell you. Let's go to Daniel Masters. Police.
Caller
Daniel, hi Mr. Cramer. Thank you very much for taking my call. I appreciate it.
Jim Cramer
I am, thank you. How can I help?
Caller
Okay, I've been following a stock called Roku. It seems to be on the way up right now. What do you think about that?
Jim Cramer
Yeah, I think it is because it's got advertising and it's got targeted advertising. People love target advertising. This is the kind of stock that goes up even on bad days for the Nasdaq like today. I wish that my Chapel trust owned. I think it's a very smart, very smart thing to buy. I always looked at the price earnings multiple and thought it was too rich. But they are doing very, very well. Alright, look, the online sports books have been getting crushed for months and the quarter from flutter only confirmed investors fears. I say you got to stay away from the cohort until they come to grips with what's really going wrong. Then much more made money at After a great investing club meeting where we can take, you know, we can't take all the questions that we get. I'm opening the phone lines and taking more of your burning market questions. Then $100 billion sounds like a lot of money to normal people but to data center players, jump change. I'm breaking open the space and reviewing the method behind the money raising madness. And of course all your calls. Rapid fire. Tonight's edition of the Lightning round. So stay with Kramer. What's going on with this market? The Dow just marked its 10th month in the green. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq just had its worst months since March of last year. You got questions I got to answer. Earlier today we held our investing club monthly meeting for February where Jeff Marks and I get together to walk club members through our decision making process for the portfolio. You know what we do? We discuss our current holdings. Then we like to take questions from you, our club members. My favorite part of these meetings is taking questions from from different people from all over the country, all over the world. It's really fun. But since we never have time to get to all of them, I'm giving you an inside look right now at what happens at the monthly meetings while also doling out some much needed market advice. I think if you join the club, you will get insights on how to manage your portfolio that you've never seen before. By the way, if you want to be a part of the next monthly meeting, join the club just Scan the QR code behind me or go to cnbc.com investing club. I really want you at the next monthly meeting. Here's the kind of thing we do. First up, we have a question from Gregory in India. Now he asks. Hi, Jim. Thanks for all you do. What percentage of my net worth should be allocated to gold? Thank you. This is a classic question. I have historically been what's known as a gold bug. I've liked gold for probably 40 years. So I think between 5 and 10%. It's an insurance. It's an insurance idea that turned out to make a lot more money than most other stocks. So let's keep that percentage going. Next, we have a question from Sheetal in California who asks Discipline Trump's conviction, but in what circumstances that change to own it, don't trade it. In other words, what should one look at determine whether a company is the next in video? All right, now these are contradictory, okay? And it's really difficult. Own it, don't trade it is directly contradict. Directly contradicts Discipline Trump's conviction. So you take a day like today when Nvidia is down really badly and yesterday when video down really badly. Discipline should say that you should sell some Nvidia because there's something wrong. But if you have conviction and you really believe in it, then you need to stand pat. And if it finally goes even lower, you need to buy some. You can make this kind of decision about one or two stocks. If you have a portfolio of things that you own, don't trade, you're going to lose a lot of money. We have picked in video and we have picked Apple. Those have been our two favorites and they've been right. Was it a painful day today? Yes, because we have an owner don't trade it philosophy. But it has made us money in those to the anything else we're willing to sacrifice. Next we have William, who asks, how do you know what when to cut your losses or add to a stock? Is there a timeline to give that stock to come back to? It's a very subjective thing. I like to think of things like a pyramid. Okay, so you start and let's say things are starting to come down. You buy some here, then you buy a lot more here, and then when it gets to here, you go big. It never. It typically doesn't go to there if you are in a quality stock. I don't want people to buy a lot at one level. I do want people to do what we called in today's meeting schnitzel when A stock is a parabolic. Then you take some off here because it's probably most likely going to go down and then you can buy some back. That's about all the trading I ever advocate. Now, Billy in Indiana asked what do you how do you recommend? What do you do with Marvell technology? I started positioning while back and have been nibbling more lately as the price has fallen. To me it's a solid company that's a key player in the market now and beyond. Whole keep buying more thanks to for all you do for your club members. Okay, listen up. Billy Marvell reports next week. Matt Murphy is what I call a money good player. He is going to be able to describe a deal that I think if they let him talk about it, that is with Amazon. That is a phenomenal deal. They are making the chips for a whole bunch of these hyperscalers and I think that they're going to be Amazon sold out of its most recent chip. Michael is Matt's going to do a big number. Hold on to it if it drops next Monday or Tuesday. Buy More Marvel. I think it's a great situation right here. All right, next up we have a question from Drew. He asks, oh boy, this is a hot one. Lumentum Lite has been going up a lot in the last six months. What do you think about it? Should I sell a bit or hold? So Lumentum I see. Jeff Marks is my colleague. He and I looked at this stock and also Ben Stoddard was a research director and the stocks like this, okay, so we think that if we come in, we are going to get annihilated. So we did a hard pass on it and I'm going to ask you to do a hard pass. A stock like Lumen that is up straight line. It's just too dangerous for me. I would be a seller, not a buyer. Thanks again to all our club members. You see what it's about. Some of it see you in the pants, but most of it is discipline. And Mad Bunny's back after the break.
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Joe Cotilla
Next.
Jim Cramer
It is time some of the light bunkers reserve our pools we see in the stock test. Bye, bye bye. Salsa. No. Cole's head down my steppers and grips through the fire. You're hearing the sound. And then the lightning round is over. Are you ready? Ski dies on the right from crazy. Let's go with Bruce in Arizona. Bruce.
Caller
Hey, Jim. You've helped so many People, give yourself a pat on the back. I'm from Upper Moraine originally now in cowboy town of Prescott, Arizona. Back in November 2008, you said applied Materials was so cheap you could sell the parts for more. I bought a thousand shares at 894. I'm up over 4,000%. Where's it headed?
Jim Cramer
All right, now I will tell you that both Jeff Parks and I were talking about adding Applied Materials to the bullpen. It got away from us. I actually think, and I know this is a little radical because I like Gary Dickens so much, I would take a little bit off. It's a parabolic chart. And then come back to it if you want to, but not more than that because I got to tell you, that's a great, great position you did. You guys, congratulations. Let's go to Lee in New York. Lee. Hey, Jim.
Caller
How are you?
Jim Cramer
I am good. How are you?
Caller
I'm doing better and better every day in every way. I wanted to add a. I wanted to add a rare earth minerals company to my portfolio. I'm a little worried because of the tariffs in the Supreme Court cutting them down. But I had a smaller company which the government also the Necrosarin usar, the stock.
Jim Cramer
I was thinking they had us. Okay, so I'm going to tell you this is a totally speculative situation now in how to make money in any market. I say you can buy one of these. Okay, Let that be your one. Do not betray me and buy two of them. That'll be too dangerous. Let's go to Ted in California.
Caller
Ted, Bria, Dr. Kramer, greetings from the North Bay at Napa. Longtime first time and a newer member. Great meeting this morning. Shout out.
Jim Cramer
Thank you very much. Thank you. Try to make it as freewheeling to show the way Jeff and I really interact. What's up?
Caller
So I know you like Dupont for the trust and it's doing pretty well.
Jim Cramer
Yes.
Caller
What are your thoughts on their merger Buddy from about five years ago who hit their 52 week high last week talking about international flavors and fragrances.
Jim Cramer
We were going to do a piece in IFF because we think that the turnabout is real. And then let me tell you, sir, we decided to hold off because it went so high. It's up 22% for the year. But you're right, IFF is. IFF is back. After being in the wilderness for almost a decade, IFF is back. I want to go to Peter in Pennsylvania.
Caller
Peter, Jim, as a longtime viewer and a happy club member, what do you think of Transocean rig.
Jim Cramer
All right, look, it's. If it were $60 stock instead of 6, no one would touch it. The fact is is that it can go higher. But I do know it's got a lot of debt. It's not my favorite. My favorite is Halliburton and my second favorite is slb, like quality. Let's go to Betsy in California. Betsy. Well, hey Jim.
Caller
This is Betsy. I wanted to have something on the
Jim Cramer
high end to go with my TJ Maxx, which by the way I love
Caller
and I shop at home goods all the time.
Jim Cramer
So what I did, it was the
Caller
beginning of the school year. I went to 8 high income high
Jim Cramer
schools and I talked to all the teenage girls that I could.
Caller
I actually talked to 75 girls.
Jim Cramer
And do you know what they all wanted? They all wanted a coach handbag. Yes. And that is right. And you should own the stock. That's your research dovetails exactly with what I hear from Wall street and from the company you want to buy, buy, buy some. Buy half of it and then if it falls, buy some more. That's the ticket. And thank you for that insight that's worth millions for our people. And that, ladies and gentlemen, conclusion of the Lightning round.
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The Lightning round is sponsored by Charles Schwab.
Jim Cramer
Maybe it's time to start thinking differently about increments. Right now we tend to blanch when we hear that a company spending worth of 100 billion on something. We get nervous. When a company raises a huge amount of money for something amorphous like the $110 billion that Open Air raised today valuing the company at 730 billion. We can't get our heads around 100 billion. Open AI just committed to buying Amazon chips. We cringe when core we've talks about the need to lose billions to make back that money later and then we send the stock down over 80%. But let me give you a novel idea. When you hear about these sums, I think you have to do the unthinkable. I think you need to think of $100 billion as well. Not a lot of money right now there are 12 companies that have announced spending plans north of $100 billion, including well known names like Apple, Taiwan, semi SoftBank and OpenAI. They initially rolled out these plans with a flourish. Great fam for not anymore though. Instead, 100 billion just seems to be the entry point if you want to be able to build a thorough set of data centers. Let's start with the understanding that many of these $100 billion amounts though might not never be spent. These are pretty fluid these days. People don't know what's ultimately going to cost. Second, the projects that many of these companies are embarking on are not simple. They involve a lot of sighting. These places, gigantic, with many buildings. You need a lot of electricity coming in at a stable pace through thick and thin in a firm geographical space. Third, the machines that can power these facilities are very expensive and the cost of building them at scale can't really be estimated. So they get lumped into $100 billion too. Most importantly though, this is 2026, not 2006 or 1996, we've had serious inflation. $100 billion fortunately ain't what it used to be. At the same time, we no longer have a ready pool of skilled blue collar builders or electricians. The materials now are insanely expensive. Data centers run hot, they need to be cooled. And let's not forget, if you buy chips from Nvidia, well, those chips don't come cheap. Now when you take these hyperscalers with clean balance sheets and you load them up with debt, they become far less attractive. But when I talk to the executives who are doing the buying in the building, they're expecting a much quicker return than most of us would imagine. They would not be surprised if they lay out $20 billion for data center and start generating gains in two years time from complete completion. Maybe, maybe even less. More important, these guys aren't. They really are certain that if they don't spend the money, they're going to end up being eaten alive by the competition. At best, they'll end up being like Microsoft's Bing, the hopelessly second rate search engine that Windows still tries to drag you onto. If you're not looking at it, you have to admire their persistence. You can't afford to be left behind though, and you still be a major company in this industry. And that thought requires you to get your head around the idea that spending $100 billion is kind of like spending 15 to 20 billion dollars in a previous decade. Think of it like this. When you decide to construct the biggest buildings in the world and stock them in the most equipment, expensive equipment in the world, or attached nuclear power plant, which is the most expensive way to generate electricity in terms of upfront payments, you better believe it's going to cost you a fortune. It's hard to avoid paying 100 billion. So from here on, let's do this. Let's accept that as the price of admission is $100 billion and just hope we don't have to ignore $200 billion anytime soon, Alex said. As always, Marcus Summer at Palms Just for your mid Money, I'm Jim Cramer. I'll see you Monday.
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Podcast: Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer
Host: Jim Cramer (CNBC)
Air Date: February 28, 2026
In this high-energy episode, Jim Cramer takes listeners through the complexities and emotional storm of February's market action. He dives into sector rotations, discusses winners and losers of the month, scrutinizes major company developments, and answers live caller questions in his signature candid style. The episode features an in-depth interview with Sterling Infrastructure’s CEO, analysis of sports betting stocks’ decline, a dynamic Lightning Round, and advice on investing strategies for today’s volatile environment.
[01:41–10:45]
February’s Market Performance: Cramer opens with a dramatic take on February, describing it as a “heartbreaker” for investors. The month was marked by sector shifts away from software and hardware, with standout gains in consumer staples (PepsiCo, Hershey, Procter & Gamble), health (JJ, Novartis), and industrial giants like Caterpillar and Deere.
“Goodbye February. You will forever be known as a heartbreaker. You demolished software, you minimized hardware, and then you took apart the King Nvidia...” (Jim Cramer, 01:49)
Interest Rates & Inflation: Even with falling interest rates, stubborn inflation kept markets indecisive. Cramer calls out the rise in oil prices and the outsized importance of the Strait of Hormuz on global energy markets.
“It was a month of indecision because inflation’s running hotter. But it was also a month that should have been better. Thanks to falling interest rates... On the other hand, it was a month where it dawned on people that obscure terms like private credit could spell real trouble.” (Jim Cramer, 02:19)
Geopolitical Risk: Cramer hints at rising geopolitical tensions, noting the President’s “sabre rattling” with Iran and the potential impact on oil and inflation.
Upcoming Events/Reports:
[10:45–15:31]
Cramer proposes Disney acquire Norwegian to shift away from stagnant linear TV and boost its vacation brand.
“Sell yourself to Disney, which is desperate for ships as there’s a big ship shortage.” (Jim Cramer, 04:10)
Target's new CEO faces immediate pressure to innovate.
Best Buy threatened by device price hikes; CrowdStrike sees its valuation challenged by new AI competitors, but Cramer stands firm on its long-term value.
“CrowdStrike's an expensive stock though, and its price earnings multiple got compressed when Anthropic...invaded its turf.” (Jim Cramer, 06:29)
[10:45–13:46, 33:14–44:28]
Starbucks & Tariffs ([11:09]):
“What can hurt them is the inability to be able to close all the stores that aren’t doing that well and then put the money towards the ones that are doing well...They’re underrepresented in the middle and overrepresented on the coasts.” (Cramer on Starbucks' challenges)
KeyCorp ([12:36]):
“Just continue [holding] at that 4% yield. … If this Stock fell to 19, I think you pull the trigger. I am a big backer of KeyCorp.”
Nike ([33:44]):
“We have to wait a full maybe year and maybe two years to see what he does. That's how poorly the company was doing that he received.” (On turnaround time and quality issues)
Roku ([34:42]):
“I think it is because it’s got advertising and it’s got targeted advertising. People love target advertising...I wish that my Chapel trust owned [it].”
Applied Materials ([41:22]):
“I actually think, and I know this is a little radical because I like Gary Dickerson so much, I would take a little bit off. It’s a parabolic chart.”
Coach (Handbags) ([44:00]):
“All the teenage girls wanted a coach handbag. Yes. And that is right. And you should own the stock. That’s your research dovetails exactly with what I hear from Wall Street.” (In response to a caller’s field research)
[15:31–24:17]
Guest: Joe Cotilla, CEO, Sterling Infrastructure
Pivot to High-Margin Infrastructure: Cotilla shares how Sterling moved from low-bid highway projects to high-value, high-growth sectors like data centers.
“Our business was about 90% low bid, heavy highway work, not a market that’s really great. Super high risk, super low reward... Our focus shifted to margin growth in cash flow.” (Cotilla, 17:09)
Labor and Talent Pipeline:
“We've been very fortunate... We tend to pay more. Our guys work 60 hours a week. And we have the biggest and most powerful toys in the industry.” (Cotilla, 18:12)
Big Data Centers = Big Jobs:
“There’s multiple buildings on these and there’s multiple years of build out... The electrical package on each one of those buildings is about $500 million.” (Cotilla, 19:35)
AI, Drones, and Efficiency:
“We make our profitability or our increased margins through project management and technology. I think people would be shocked to see what we do with drones, what we've done with AI already within our business, on our job sites.” (Cotilla, 23:08)
Solid Balance Sheet, More M&A:
“I think you’re amazing. I think your company’s amazing. This is very exciting for me…Your company doesn't sound like one throwing around money recklessly.” (Cramer, 22:47)
[26:15–33:14]
Sports Betting Stock Under Pressure:
“Flutter peaked at $313 and change in early August and now it’s only at 166...” (Cramer, 26:27)
Quarterly Woes & “Recycling” Problem:
Cramer’s Skepticism:
“Clearly, denial is not just a river in Egypt. Who the heck does he think his company is losing market share to if not the prediction market?” (Cramer, 31:05)
[34:50–40:28]
[44:40–48:03]
Megaproject Spending:
“$100 billion, fortunately, ain’t what it used to be... It's kind of like spending $15–$20 billion in a previous decade.” (Cramer, 46:10)
End note:
Cramer’s fast-paced, passionate, and often humorous delivery makes even the most daunting Wall Street topics feel both urgent and accessible. This episode is a toolbox of market wisdom, actionable advice, and behind-the-curtain industry perspective.