Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 5/23/25

Summary

Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer – Episode Summary (May 23, 2025)

Host: Jim Cramer
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Podcast Description: “Mad Money” offers an insider's perspective on Wall Street investing, featuring Jim Cramer's dynamic insights and the popular Lightning Round where he shares buy, sell, and hold recommendations based on caller inquiries.

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1. Market Overview

Jim Cramer opens the episode with a critical analysis of the current market turbulence, attributing significant volatility to President Trump's aggressive trade policies.

Key Points:

• Tariffs Impact: Cramer discusses the President's imposition of a 50% tariff on European imports effective June 1 and a 25% tariff on Apple’s iPhones manufactured in India. He asserts that such “unfriendly government intervention” directly contributed to a decline in major indices: "the Dow declined 256 points. The S&P lost 0.67% and the NASDAQ dropped 1%” (03:00).

• Market Sentiment: He reflects on investors' initial shock following the market's sharp decline from February to April, expressing uncertainty about future movements, especially with early futures indicating continued downward trends: “The early morning futures have been down for days on end” (05:30).

• Upcoming Earnings: Cramer highlights the significance of the upcoming earnings reports from major companies like Costco, Dell, and Salesforce, noting their potential to sway market sentiments significantly (07:15).

2. Company-Specific Insights

AutoZone

• Performance & Buybacks: AutoZone is highlighted as a top performer with aggressive stock buybacks, having cut more than half of its stock in the past decade. Cramer encourages investors to "just go buy it because management will be right there alongside you buying it after a few days" (07:45).

Octa (Cybersecurity Specialist)

• Analyst Endorsement: Octa is praised for its cybersecurity solutions, with analysts highly recommending the stock ahead of the upcoming quarter. Cramer anticipates "tremendous" quarterly numbers based on current performance and market positioning (08:30).

Retail Sector

• Dick’s Sporting Goods & Macy’s: Both retailers are underperforming, particularly Dick's Sporting Goods following its acquisition of Foot Locker. Cramer expresses skepticism about Dick’s ability to mitigate the negative market perception: “I don't know what they can say to change that” (09:10).

• Costco & TJX: Despite strong quarterly results, Costco’s stock consistently declines post-earnings due to investor psychology. TJX is identified as a potentially undervalued stock with anticipated rally after recent sell-offs (10:20).

• Ralph Lauren: Extensive analysis is provided on Ralph Lauren’s robust international performance, particularly in Europe and China, despite cautious forecasts in North America due to economic uncertainties and tariffs. Cramer commends the company's adaptability and strong branding: “Ralph Lauren is not only holding its ground against the backdrop of an uncertain economy, it's positioning itself for long term success” (19:29).

Tech Giants: Nvidia & Salesforce

• Nvidia: Transitioning from purely hardware to integrating significant software components, Nvidia is expected to show continued upside due to this strategic pivot. Cramer notes Nvidia’s resilience: “They have been morphing from a hardware company into a hardware company with a huge Software component” (11:00).

• Salesforce: With potential acquisitions on the horizon, including rumors of re-engaging with Informatica, Salesforce’s stock is under pressure. Cramer remains cautious about the implications of these talks: “The market could react the same way that the market reacted to Dick’s Footlocker bad” (12:00).

3. Listener Engagement and Portfolio Advice

Jim engages with several callers, offering tailored advice on managing stock positions and navigating market volatility.

Notable Discussions:

• Boeing: Cramer is optimistic about Boeing's future, citing improved management and potential growth: “I think Boeing goes higher” (09:32).

• Broadcom: Highlighted as a strong position within the portfolio, Cramer acknowledges its robust performance in the data center sector: “Broadcom is good, my friend. It's one of my biggest positions from a terrible trust” (09:41).

• Speculative Stocks: Cramer advises limiting speculative investments to a small portion of the portfolio to manage risk effectively: “I think you're fine as long as the dollar amounts are low” (17:34).

• Salesforce vs. ServiceNow: Cramer supports holding both stocks for their long-term potential despite current uncertainties, emphasizing their strengths and leadership: “These are two really fine companies and over the long term they both been sensational” (27:08).

4. Lightning Round: Rapid-Fire Stock Recommendations

In the high-energy Lightning Round, Jim provides quick buy, sell, or hold recommendations on various stocks based on rapid inquiries from callers.

Highlights:

• Eli Lilly: Cramer endorses Eli Lilly, noting its consistent performance and strategic positioning against competitors like Novo Nordisk: “Eli Lilly. We bought some just the other day for the Chapel Trust” (35:40).

• Semiconductor Stocks: Advises taking profits on recently surged semiconductor stocks rather than buying more post-rally, cautioning against parabolic moves: “I say take your money out that you put in and then you can let the rest ride” (36:41).

• Defi Development & Crypto: Expresses a bullish stance on Bitcoin while remaining cautious about speculative crypto investments: “I am an owner of bitcoin. I am not going to deviate” (40:09).

• Rio Tinto: Recommends Rio Tinto for its strong yield and global presence, highlighting its stability and profitability: “I like Rio Tinto. I like Rio Tinto. I like the yield. I like the company” (39:43).

5. Special Feature: Interview with Jerome Grant, CEO of Universal Technical Institute

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to an in-depth interview with Jerome Grant, CEO of Universal Technical Institute (UTI), a leading provider of education for skilled trades.

Key Insights:

• Educational Impact: UTI addresses the labor shortage by providing industry-aligned training in skilled trades, transportation, and healthcare, ensuring high employment rates for graduates: “We graduate nearly 70% of our students year in, year out” (43:18).

• Response to AI: Grant emphasizes that while AI is transforming industries, it’s augmenting rather than replacing skilled trades. UTI integrates AI tools into their curriculum to prepare students for modern job requirements: “Artificial intelligence isn't going to take blood from you, isn't going to change your oil” (45:12).

• Enrollment Growth: The institute has seen a 20% increase in enrollments, driven by the growing demand for skilled labor and the need for retraining among adults: “Our enrollments were up over 20% in the last quarter” (46:40).

• Financing Education: UTI offers financial aid options similar to community colleges, with Pell grants and federal student loans making education accessible: “Most of our students are fully Pell eligible” (44:47).

Conclusion of Interview: Cramer lauds UTI’s role in the education sector, highlighting its essential contribution to the workforce and economic stability: “This is a terrific company. I'm glad that our viewer of course, brought it to our attention” (46:08).

6. Closing Remarks

Jim Cramer wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of informed investing amidst market uncertainties. He emphasizes the value of diversification, strategic stock selections, and staying informed through continuous education and reliable sources.

Final Thoughts:

• Command vs. Free Market: Cramer warns about the risks of increased government intervention in business decisions, likening it to a “command economy” and stressing the premium on companies unaffected by presidential influences (16:00).

• Investment Strategy: He encourages investors to remain adaptable, take profits wisely, and capitalize on undervalued opportunities while avoiding overexposure to speculative ventures (28:07).

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Notable Quotes:

• “Unfriendly government intervention is why the Dow declined 256 points.” (03:00)
• “Ralph Lauren is not only holding its ground against the backdrop of an uncertain economy, it's positioning itself for long term success.” (19:29)
• “I am an owner of bitcoin. I am not going to deviate.” (40:09)
• “This is a terrific company. I'm glad that our viewer of course, brought it to our attention.” (46:08)

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Conclusion: In this episode of "Mad Money," Jim Cramer navigates through the complexities of current market dynamics influenced by geopolitical factors and presidential policies. He provides insightful analyses on various sectors, offers strategic investment advice through listener interactions, and highlights the pivotal role of education in sustaining the workforce through his interview with Universal Technical Institute's CEO. Cramer's blend of market expertise and practical advice serves as a comprehensive guide for investors aiming to navigate the challenging investment landscape of 2025.

Transcript

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[Jim Cramer]

Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Man Money. Welcome to Kramerica. Other people. My friends, I'm just trying to make little money. My job is not just to entertain, but to educate, to teach. So call me at 1-800-743-CBC. TweetMeach Kramer, what can I say? We temporarily forgot who was in charge. Who determined stock prices. Who decides whether we're going to have an up day or a down day? Now, I'm not talking about the invisible hand of the market. I'm talking about the President. That's right, because President Trump isn't happy with his trade negotiations with the eu. You know how he decided this very morning to slap Europe with a 50% tariff on June 1 unless they come to the table, make a deal. On top of that, he's single. Apple for 25% tariff on cell phones made in India because he wants those products once made right here. Honestly, it's cheaper for Apple to just pay the 25%. That unfriendly government intervention is why the Dow declined 256 points. The S&P lost 0.67% and the NASDAQ dropped 1%. Hey, so much. What about this guy? Trump sure makes his business interesting. Of course, these actions make it much harder to own stocks for you and me. I own my travel trust, you own them. Individual after the averages bottomed on April 7, we got. We very quickly got used to the idea that that the President was done rolling the markets. We thought he learned his lesson from that brutal 19% decline. From the highs in February to the post Liberation Day lows in April. We were raw. It's tough to tell what awaits us when the market Opens next Tuesday. If the president's back on the tariff warpath. I was heartened to see that the market could recover some of its losses ahead of a three day weekend. Hard enough that we actually did a small buy of a bank stock for the Travel Trust today. We would have bought more but I am concerned that this market now is a downward bias to it. The early morning futures have been down for days on end. And you know I don't like to sleep and I see them and they just make me sick. 3:34 4 4am the market's already drenched in red. Now we do know this next week is a huge one. Huge one for earnings with Costco, Dell, Salesforce Video. Any one of those can impact the entire sector if not the market itself. Let's look at it ever since. We have some high profile companies reporting on Tuesday. Now we start with one of the top performers of the year and that's a company called autozone. This auto parts chain has been on fire. And it doesn't hurt that Ozone is one of the most aggressive buybacks I have ever seen. They've more than cut half of the stock out in the last decade. If the stock gets hit, please do this. You should just go buy it because management will be right there alongside you buying it after a few days. What a horse. At the close Tuesday, we hear from a company that's suddenly adored It's Octa. You. We've been. They've been on top of kids but a bunch of times. Cybersecurity specialist that handles login and verification credentials. Analysts have been climbing up all over themselves. Recommend the stock ahead of the quarter. I think they're right. I think the numbers will be tremendous Wednesday morning. Well, let's see. We got two retailers tick sporting goods with a stock that's been crushed since announced its plan to buy Foot Locker last week. And Macy's, the now chronically underperforming department chain. It is imperative that Dick's explains its rationale for the footlocker deal. Maybe the stock can get some footing. But right now people think this deal is a game changer in a real bad way for Dick's. I don't know what they can say to change that. But I tell you the stock has just been eviscerated. Wednesday night is huge. We have not one, but two big quarters from Nvidia and Salesforce. Nvidia is regularly on the hot seat these days. So often we forget it's been morphing from a hardware company into a hardware company with a huge Software component. Yes. That's what CEO Jensen Huang spoke about in the big speech in Computex in Taiwan earlier this week. I bet we'll see and hear more about the software side of video going forward, including this call because that's helped explain why the stock could still have a lot more upside. We own it for the Chapel Trust and for now we're just sitting on it. We're look the stocks in no man's land. Salesforce is very tough cool here. Some analysts are saying Agent Force with Agentix platform is producing a revenue breakout for the company. Others say that Agent Force is a distraction, making it harder for CEO Mark Benioff to make the numbers this quarter. I'm not sure. So once again, the Travel Trust is doing nothing ahead of the quarter. Oh, and tonight we got a real complication with buzz that Salesforce is once again in talks to acquire Informatica, the data management company. Now this is a deal that Wall street clearly doesn't want as Salesforce's stock tanked when it was first reported in April of last year, only recovering when they walked away from the deal. And that's why the Stock fell nearly 4% today on the news that it might be back at the table. Now I am sure Marc Benioff is paying attention because the market could react to the same way that the market reacted to Dick's footlocker bad. Next on Thursday close, we hear from the company that I think is the most consistent earnings, also the most persistent sell off after we see the earnings even when they're good. And I'm talking about Costco. It's unnerving to watch a fantastic quarter and still see a stock go down. That's, that's just how it's done with this one. Even as we have a fairly good idea how the company's doing. Because you know what? This company gives us monthly numbers as we tell investing club members, don't buy Costco ahead of the quarter, it's going to go down. It's like tjx. You'll usually get a much better price if you just wait a couple of days. TJX may be the most undervalued stock our entire portfolio. Why? Because it had the huge sell off now wait a couple of days is probably going to rally. Hey, speaking of retail, ever since Richard Dickson became CEO of the Gap almost two years ago, he's been busy reinventing the place. We've had one a number of times. It is working people. And since the last quarter, analysts have been falling all over themselves about this story and and now here's one that if it comes down ahead of the quarter, you have my permission now, my blessing to pull the trigger and do some buying, fall into the gap. Remember that also on Thursday night where there's a lot of chatter about what Marvell Technologies Mr. Vl will report. Same with Dell. Both are integral parts of the data center and there's been a lot of speculation about how Marvell might miss the quarter while Dell will blow away the numbers. I'm not so sure that Marvel will disappoint. Matt Murray's pretty good CEO, but I do expect Dell to be darn good. I bet they pull back a ton of stock just like Michael Dell said he would if the stock went down. Oh, and then there's a charm. Stock Z Scaler cloud based cybersecurity company has gotten into the habit of reporting upside surprises. It's unnerving to me that it doesn't seem, no matter what this company reports, it seems to be so loved these days. That's where the opportunity is. Lots of chatter. By the way, Ulta, that Ulta beauty is going to have a very strong quarter. Ulta is a stock that people like to make bets on. I don't like that. I think retail is very hard to navigate here. If you want to own Ulta, please don't trade it, just own it. Going back and forth won't lose your money as long as you believe in the business. Just hold on for the ride. Finally on Friday, we get a read on the inflation from the personal consumption expenditure numbers. Before Jay Powell took over as Fed chairman, we never used to focus on this indicator, but it's Powell's favorite way to measure inflation. So it's become incredibly important. We need inflation to cool off and that's mighty hard when plenty of goods are going up in price thanks to the tariffs. If you you mandate tariffs, you're mandating higher prices. I mean, because a tariff is just a sales tax on imports, it's never really meant anything else. We can't spin it beyond that. Bottom line, we're heading into a fickle week, one that will no doubt punctuated with presidential postings about our trading partners, their intransigence, their negatives, the perfidiousness. Of course, the market only shrugged off the real negative posting from this morning and instead focus on the endless obsession, the ten year treasury, which was steady enough to trump President Trump and his renewed call for high tariffs. I hope that can continue next week, but they some I wouldn't count on it can we please start with Bill in Massachusetts, please?

[Caller]

Bill, Jimbo, it's your friend from Boston. I just wanted to thank you and your staff for giving us incredible encouragement and knowledge to get through these, this tough time with all the tariffs.

[Jim Cramer]

Bill, you always thank our team and I love that. And you are a faithful friend of the show. Let's go to work together. What's going on?

[Caller]

Jim, I want to know your what you think about Boeing and when the government do you think will let up on it and let it fly.

[Jim Cramer]

I think Boeing goes higher. Okay. I think the Kelly or Brooks got a handle on things. Bill. It's an up stock and when I say that what it means is that if it comes down, buyers immediately come in, they pounce and, and they, and I'm with them. I want to go to Clive in New York. Clive, yes. Jim, yes, partner. What's up? Not too bad. I'm Broadcom. I like Broadcom. I have a lot of Broadcom. Broadcom is good, my friend. It's one of my biggest positions From a terrible trust. This stock has been a horse. And I gotta tell you, as far as I'm concerned, even up here because it's in the data center and it's taking names and taking share that is tough to tell what a wastes next week. So you'll have to keep level head. I know that's hard for me but you can give it a try and stay steady in the face of unpredictability. Maybe tonight I'm giving you my latest in the intersection of Wall street and Washington and how Trump is positioned to impact tech giants like Apple. Like in video that is Ralph Lauren fit for long term growth. In this tape I'm going to break down the stock after yesterday's report. Plus I'm giving you a behind the scenes look at what I do every day in the investing club. Don't miss my take on some of our club members questions and stay with Kramer.

[Mad Money Producer]

Don't miss a second of Mad Money. Follow imkramer on X have a question? Tweet Kramer Madmentions. Send Jim an email to madmoneycnbc.com or give us a call at 1-800-743-CNBC. Miss something? Head to madmoney.cnbc.com.

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[Jim Cramer]

This morning we were joking about whether the President was on the boards of Apple and Nvidia, given that he's making big decisions that directly impact both companies companies. I said to David and Carl, no, he's not on the board, he's the chairman of the board. And it takes some getting used to. Look, this is a real bad week for free market capitalism. We saw the White House turn down Jensen Huang's pleas to let him sell advanced chips to China because Jensen believes it's better to dominate that business than to let Chinese competitors take over. We used to have 95% of that market over there for super high end chips, and now it's down about 50. But the white House wasn't buying it. They don't want China getting its hands on these chips for national security reasons. And I think Jensen's right. If you get China using our stuff, they'll have much less of an incentive to develop their own with zeal and let's say, even anger. Now, with these export controls, China will go all out to make their advanced chips and they'll make good ones. Personally, I feel America would be a safer place if China depends on Nvidia for its best semiconductors. Even more troubling though, the White House went after Apple for trying to move its iPhone production to India. Not that long ago, Apple was frantic to get out of China because of Trump's Extremely high tariffs. Company knew that they could quickly make good phones in India. So they shipped as much as possible, figuring anything that punishes China would make the President happy. But the President had other ideas. He doesn't want the phones to be made in India. He wants it made in the United States, even if it costs a fortune. And it would. Like Jensen, Tim Cook did everything he could to convince the White House not to punish his company with individual tariffs from moving to what he thought was a safe zone. But he failed this morning when a story appeared in the Financial Times that Foxconn, a key manufacturer for Apple, is spending $1.5 billion to help Apple build cell phones in India. The President took Truth Social and threatened Apple 25% tariffs on phones made there. It's pretty clear to me that Trump wants Foxconn to spend that 1.5 billion here. The undercurrent here is that the President's trade people don't believe that Apple honors his pledges. So they're now being ordered by fiat. I think it's outrageous. Apple's created more jobs this country than just about any other company. But that seems to mean nothing to the White House. Not under their pledges. Please, this is Apple. While there's some precedent here, we've never seen a president do this kind of thing during peacetime. Let's step back for a second. We know that presidents have acted directly against business before. In 1946, President Truman temporarily seized the rails after a national strike. 1962, President Kennedy switched some steel contracts away from Bethlehem Steel after he felt double crossbar them in a union contract negotiation. Those were pretty intrusive. But Truman and Kennedy were dealing with national issues of incredible importance. The conflicts now about a president telling companies what to do and where to go and going after them hard if they don't. Nvidia loses the China business. Apple either pays the 25% tariff or makes American phones that are too expensive for anyone to buy. Trump is making board level decisions for these companies. Now, I can see where the President might philosophically disagree with Jensen Wang on this one issue. While the two remain close, there's a legitimate reason to keep in videos. Best chips away from China. And of course gents is now all in with the President after the decision has been made. But Apple, you have an incredible company creating a product that's the envy of the world, the best there is, and you're jerking them around. Apple's committed to uplifting more than $500 billion with investments United States. If the White House doesn't think they're fulfilling that pledge. They can just talk to Apple rather than going to war against them. America's finest, no matter what the president's functioning, is the chairman of the board overruling company executives about business decisions. He's not accepting the rationales. He wants it his way. In that sense, he's inching step by step toward running what I call command economy. But the bottom line, we have to make our peace with it. And yes, added to the risk factors of owning stocks here, it puts a premium on companies that Trump and his people play no role in. Unfortunately, the list of companies that are exempt from presidential meddling grows shorter by the day. Hey, let's take questions. Let's go to Dean, Florida. Dean.

[Caller]

Hey, professor, how you doing today?

[Jim Cramer]

I am doing well, Dean, how about you?

[Caller]

Doing great. Founding club member and fellow logophile here. I've always appreciated your lexicon. So this is just for you. In the days of a bull market, Jim Cramer often adopts a sanguine outlook, reflecting the zeitgeist of investor optimism while cautioning against meretricious stock picks that may seem attractive but lack substance.

[Jim Cramer]

Hope you like what is what. Thank you for that. Thank you for that. So let's. Let's go to work with the stock. What do we have?

[Caller]

I'm talking about, unh, is this a buying opportunity or has it become a value?

[Jim Cramer]

Look, I think now this is a really tricky one because my rules say that even if I like that stock, and I got to tell you, I think that Mr. Hemsley is fantastic. Even if I like that stock, if there is a Justice Department, department inquiry, if there are problems with the government, I have to take a pass because more often than not, I've been hurt when I speculate. Now the president is appointing himself chairman of the boards of a growing list of companies. Now, that is, of course, facetious, but I think it's something. Got to make peace with if you want to go successful. We're going to make money either way. I'm not worried. I just got to know the lay of land. Money is back after the break.

[Mad Money Producer]

Coming up, up for some polo. Kramer's digging into the latest earnings from Ralph Lauren and seeing if now is the time to get in on the iconic fashion and lifestyle brand.

[Jim Cramer]

Next.

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How could you not be a member and save up to 20%?

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[Jim Cramer]

We'Ve heard from a series of retailers this week and Wall street doesn't seem to know what to make of them. Take Ralph Lauren, which I talked about a little last night as my late father used to call it Ralph Lauren because misnaming things is a tradition. The tradition Kramer family. This is a stock I recommended a little over a month ago, March 13th when it was trading at just $216 and change. Now it's back up to $274. I'm betting continue to climb. See yesterday morning Ralph Lauren reported what I thought was an excellent quarter. But the market couldn't figure out what to make of the numbers and the stock turned into a roller coaster, only finishing session up three and a half bucks. The way I see it, the stock should have been up a lot more, but it was down a lot at one point. Now there was just too much to like about this quarter. Revenues came in higher than expected, driven by strong results in Europe, Asia and North America. Those are three key regions. Ralph Lauren's gross margin came in at 68.6. Wall street was only looking for 67.1. The Bears have been on the prowl for any signs that the uncertain economic environment might be causing consumers to pull back on discretionary spending. That's not happening, at least at Ralph Lauren. At the same time, the strong margins tell you that Ralph Lauren didn't have to engage in and tons of promotional activity to move its merchandise is so important people. Instead, for the 32nd straight quarter, the company once again grew its average unit retail, which basically measures the average selling price per unit. After accounting for discounts and markdowns the quarter this quarter their AUR was up 9%. Even more encouraging management Mrs. Patrice Louvet has been on the show a number of times and I spent a lot of time talking because he's really taught me a lot. Lot indicated they expect this high single digit pricing growth to continue into the next quarter. Now all of this strength flowed through to Ralph Lauren's bottom line. With the company earning $2.27. Now the spirit is only looking for two or four. Of course, while the numbers were excellent by themselves. I always tell you to get on that conference call, right? Luckily, Ralph Lauren's conference call was fantastic in keeping with Patrice, who just runs a terrific call. After several years of elevated inflation, consumers have started pushing back against against high prices. So for a while now, the best retailers are the ones that offer a unique value proposition. That doesn't actually mean their goods are cheap. It just means the customer feels like they're getting a good deal because maybe the product lasts. Ralph Lauren is many things, but cheap isn't one of their customers tend though tend to be on the wealthier side, which makes them less price sensitive. That's why the company still is moving a lot of merchandise, even though they're not offering much in the way of discounts. I wouldn't call Ralph Lauren a return ridiculously high priced brand, but it's not known for its bargain hunting either. So what keeps these customers coming back then? In other words, what is the value proposition here? As management emphasized on yesterday's call, customers see value in Ralph Lauren's products because the brands considered, quote, timeless. Hard to argue with that. This is stuff you can wear forever. It might not be the height of fashion, but there are very few occasions where you look like an idiot for wearing something with iconic that polo player logo. No, but I've been wearing the same stuff for like 20 years. This Ralph Lauren. Let me be honest, for many people, that Ralph Lauren logo might be the only reason they even know what Polo is in the first place. This sense of timelessness is evident in the company's core products as knit shirts, chino pants, oxford cloth shirts, my fave select footwear and accessories. These brand staples all delivered low double digit sales growth in the quarter. Big deal. Because these categories account for over 70% of the business. And it's not just Ralph Lauren's core business that's seen that momentum. Management also called out strength in several, and I quote, high potential and quote categories, including women's apparel, outerwear and handbags. Collectively, these categories delivered revenue growth in the high teens. So how come the stock didn't simply roar higher yesterday? Well, there was some concern about management's forecast for 2026 this year, which started in April. I thought the concern was overdone, but let me tell you, Ralph Lauren's most qualitative guidance was more or less in line with expectations, including an Outlook for low single digits sales growth. But management also noted that in North America they've taken a more cautious approach to their preliminary guidance because of the broader economy and the impact of cost inflation on the consumer. Thanks to, yes, the tariffs. Now that's a fair concern. You never want to hear a retail CEO express caution about consumer spending. But I think those that sold the stock down yesterday morning are missing the bigger picture. Ralph Lawrence expressing caution only in North America because their business in the rest of the world is on fire. Remember, this isn't the Ralph Lauren of old or even the Ralph Lauren of a few years ago. The international business now makes up 57% of total sales. Remember the international. Europe's doing better than we are in a lot of different categories now. Before the pandemic, international was only 45% of the business. And again international roaring Ralph Lauren seeing a lot of momentum in Asia where sales were up 13%. China stood out with sales rising over 20%. Even though Chinese business was up against a very tough comparison last year. And we think that China is doing so badly. Well, it's only 9% of the business now. Management, please, will keep growing like a wheat, I guess. The brand so timeless that even the trade board didn't do much damage. Or maybe people in China think that Ralph Lauren concerns British because where else do people care about Poland? At the same time, the company's European business grew at a 16% clip. Even more impressive, Europe has the company's highest operating margin of any region. It's just insanely profitable for these guys. Managers playing offense overseas with a focus on what they see as key cities. That's what they call the key cities outside of the obvious domestic names like New York and yes, San Francisco. Unbelievable. Ralph Lauren's been making moves in London, Paris, cans con in Europe as well as several big cities in Asia like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Speaking of international exposure, when it comes to tariffs, Ralph Lauren's done an amazing job of diversifying its supply chain. No single country makes up more than 20% of total production. A lot of people sold the stock down because they thought that it was going to be hostage to China. No, only a single digit percentage of products being sold the United States are made in China. If the tariff situation worsens, I'm confident management is the flexibility to adapt accordingly. They are so good at sourcing. Finally they've got this rap, this rapidly growing direct to consumer DTC business destroying in lots of younger customers. Everybody in retail wants to get customers when they're young because that's when they. When people form their lifelong habits. Hey, speaking of young consumers, Ralph Lauren's fabulous when it comes to doing social media. The company increases total following by low double digits compared to a year now surpassing 65 million followers across their platforms. Calling out TikTok and a few other ways to be able to get the growth. When you put it all together, Ralph Lauren is not only holding its ground against the backdrop of an uncertain economy, it's positioning itself for long term success. So here's the bottom line. It's clear that demand for RL's timeless apparel is more than intact. And when you factor in their strong international business, sourcing flexibility and momentum in high potential categories, project momentum. Ralph Lauren's looking really good after that quarter. The sellers were wrong yesterday. They and the buyers who sent the stock back up were dead right. More important I this think this game got this thing. It's got a lot more to run. I'm taking questions. I'm going to Corey in Utah.

[Caller]

Corey, Booyah. Jim, thank you taking my call and thanks for all you do.

[Jim Cramer]

Booyah sunshine. Hit me.

[Caller]

The company I'm calling about has a couple of bullish upgrades from analysts recently and is a profitable company. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on Albertson, the ticker symbol aci.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah, they got away from it once they got away from that merger. Merger. I think that people realized the value of the company. It's still low. Multiple stock. I happen to like Kroger more but I've got to tell you, this is a survivor and I think the Albertson is going to keep going higher. I need to go to Tony and Georgia park, please.

[Caller]

Tony, Jimbo, tell me all you can, all you will about Dutch Brothers stock pleaser.

[Jim Cramer]

The Dutch Bros. The Dutch Bros be going higher, sir. I mean when they were on just last Friday, as a matter of fact, we had Christine Brown and I thought she told a great story. The stock has had a nice dip. And you know what I say about that dip? I say all right, you know what? We're not done. I want to keep taking calls. If you don't mind, I'd like to speak to Kyle in New Jersey.

[Caller]

Kyle, we hold my best friend Jim Cramer.

[Jim Cramer]

How are you? You are my buddy. You are my buddy partner. What do we got going?

[Caller]

Happy Memorial Day weekend, man. So here's, here's my question for you. Okay. I'm up big in this stock and I still think it is heavily undervalued. I feel like they could be a buyout target or it can just keep Ripping higher. I'm looking for it to double from here and I'm thinking about buying more lift. What do you think?

[Jim Cramer]

Look, I like David Richer. The stocks just had a nice pop. I would not come in on top of this pop. I would let it come down. I think it just had too big a move and I don't like parabolic moves. But you nailed a good one. And if you're up big, how about this? How about a little schnitzel, Take some off and then play with the house's money. Anyway, look, I think the sellers of RL yesterday have been proved wrong. While the buyers who set the stock up today, they're dead right now. Much more made money. To help make sense of the markets this week, I'm bringing Craig Merrick with some fantastic investing club member questions. Sending a recent monthly meeting that I didn't get to. And then you called in on workforce training company Universal Technical Institute. What do we do? We did the homework and went right to the source. The company's top rest. They're here. I like them. And of course, all your calls. Rapid fire in tonight's edition of the Lightning Round. So stay with Ramer. There's an awful lot to pay attention to in this market right now, from the president's postings to important earnings and everything in between. So with markets just posting their worst week since early April, we thought it'd be a good thing to slow down, take a step back and answer some of your questions about this market. Yesterday we held our investing club monthly meeting where Jeff Marks and I get together to walk club members through our decision making process. For the portfolio, we discuss our current holdings and then we take questions from our club members. I love educating investors on how to grow their wealth. Every day after squawk on the street, I meet daily the club members at 10:20am for our morning meeting. It's a TV program basically sharing candid insights and detailed stock updates for the market. Ten minutes, everything is out. As a member, you'll see every move I make before I pull the trigger. With the precise reasoning behind each trade before I make it, you gain access to the charitable trust portfolio with key insights to help you learn to grow your portfolio. And we have a special offer going on right now. To join, simply scan the QR code or visit cnbc.com/kramer club today. Now my favorite part of these meetings actually take your questions. And since we've never had time to take all the questions we've got, I'm going to give you a little inside look at what happens at these monthly meetings while also hopefully doling out some, let's say, much needed market advice. So let's start with Bill in New Jersey who asks what do you do with small positions in stocks that have run up too high after the first one or two purchases? Jim has called us a high quality problem. Is it okay to hold them as long as the basket is properly diversified? Sort of like an index approach? I got to tell you, Bill, no, what I prefer is just say, you know what, I made some money. I didn't get the whole position in boom, let's take the profit because I don't want too many positions that are on my sheet, so to speak. You can't keep track of all the names. So let's just ring the register. Kaching, Kaching. And find the next one maybe level. Build a bigger position with that one. High quality problem. Isn't it because you're making a profit? Next up is Artem in California says there are arguments that a combination of tariffs and high interest rates can push our economy into stagflation. What's your take on the possibility of stagflationary outcome and what companies could do well in such an environment? Okay, nobody does well in that environment, but that's not what I think we're going to have. I think that there are many different things in the economy that can help the help things. You could have inflation go down. Once people figure out this tariff thing, we can end up with some high growth because the bill that was passed in the House is supercharged with stimulus. So I'm not buying that stagflation thing. That's from people who just want to get us down because there is nothing that works in stagflation. Having traded and lived through an investing the 70s, I can tell you it's a loser. Next up is Roger in Florida who says what is the team's view on Striker based on the recent tariff situation? Recently CEO of Stryker was on man by extremely positive. Any updates? Enlighten the club. I like Striker but you know, I don't like it enough. I don't like it as much as Intuitive Surgical. That's the one that I thought we should buy is rg. Let's go to Ronald in California. Is it okay that we buy high growth stocks like Crowdstrike and maybe Palantir yet not consider that their PE ratios are at over 200 and the Ford P at 100 are just too overvalued for purchase? Let's really parse this. Okay, first of all we own Crowdstrike for the club. It's been one of the greatest performers of all time. George Kirch is remarkable. Is it right to be able to own such an expensive stock? It'll look if you look back at where it was, it turns out it was very cheap because the numbers came up so quickly. And by the way, that actually is how I found Nvidia. Nvidia was the same thing. It looked very expensive. That it wasn't Palantir is just playing out expensive. But there you can use a rule that tells you about growth versus margins and it turns out to be much less expensive than a lot of other companies because the growth is very good and the margins are high. So we're not going to. We're not going to use traditional valuation metrics to measure either one of those stocks. And I like them both very much. Although Palantir is a little too speculative for me. Crowdstrike sweet spot. Next up, Christopher in Georgia wants to know how do you know how many speculative stocks to have in your portfolio? Portfolio? I have nine individual stocks in total with three of them being Specs, Aurora, Innovation, Pinterest and Rubrik. Although these three are the three lowest percentages of the total portfolio in dollars. Before you told me about the lowest percentages in dollars, I would say, you know what, that's wrong. I don't even like it have more than two. I like speculation. I think informed speculation is terrific. I think you're fine as long as the dollar amounts are low. And by the way, in my new book coming out, I do stress the need to speculate in order to be able to make enough money to be able to retire. One because the speculation can work out. Look at the way the nuclear stocks worked out today. It's crazy. Next is Kenneth in the US who says I have owned both Salesforce and ServiceNow for several years. I bought both because I did not know which would be the winner, decided to split the difference and own half as much of each. Do you support that approach or should I ditch servicenow since the club owns sales would know? I do not totally support that. By the way, if Salesforce goes and buys this informatica that would be very bad and it would make me question what the company was up to. I hope they don't do that. I like Asian Force very much which is their division that Agentix. But I also like Service down. I love what Bill McDermott is doing. They're actually going at each other right now or at least Bill McDermott declared war. So to speak on Salesforce. These are two really fine companies and over the long term they both been sensational. So anyway, I want to thanks again to all our callers, all our questioners and remember that you can join the club ahead of next month's Me. People really like the club. I spent a lot of time talking to club members all over the country and people really get a kick out of it. But more important, they say they make money with it. It money's back.

[Mad Money Producer]

Coming up, Kramer takes your calls. And the sky's the limit. It's a fast fire lightning round.

[Jim Cramer]

Next. It is time. It's time for the light round. Christmas. Bye bye bye. Salsa sell donut cold stock question. We play the sound and then the lightning round is over. Are you ready? Ski dad to the light round comes off. We'll start with Brian. Brian in California. Brian.

[Caller]

Hey, Jim. A big booyah from California.

[Jim Cramer]

Good to have you on the show.

[Caller]

Thank you for all you do and being a positive influence for us investors. What are your thoughts please, on Eli Lilly?

[Jim Cramer]

Thank you. Thank you, Eli Lilly. Okay, Eli Lilly. We bought some just the other day for the Chapel Trust. Why did we do that? Because it's down very big and yet it's been beating Novo Nordisk over and over and over again. So I just think this is a decent level to start a position if you don't have any. Let's go to Mark in Wisconsin.

[Caller]

Mark, thank you for taking my call, Dr. Tush. Push, Kramer. You and your eagles.

[Jim Cramer]

I'll take it. I'll take it. Hey, listen, I didn't really care for Mr. Lorre's actual tagline and his. But you know what? Let's try Troy Vincent. My buddy said he didn't like it either. So we're good to go. What's up?

[Caller]

I got a semiconductor stock for you. They recently got some great news from Nvidia. They're going to be using one of the products in this company's lineup. And should I take a modest profit or should I back up the truck and buy more NBNs?

[Jim Cramer]

No, that one's done. That one's done. I mean, look, it's terrific what happened, but you just had a gigantic gain. It's almost like a takeover. I say take your money out that you put in and then you can let the rest ride. Play with the house's money. I need to go to Rich in California. Rich.

[Caller]

Jim, Big booyah from Napa, California.

[Jim Cramer]

Napa. Oh, my God. I wish I were there right now. What's. What's happening?

[Caller]

Well, it's beautiful. Wish you were here too. My, my question is about Mr. Coop. Got a big profit on it, but it's getting bought out by Rocket.

[Jim Cramer]

Would you sell, you take your profit right now, that thing's done. Mr. Cooper is done. You know, I'm like, you know, that's like as done as Gary Cooper. This is Bo. Jess, my friend. Let's go to Paul, Maryland.

[Caller]

Paul, yes, hi. No, Virginia, actually. Hey, Jim, I had a question about RCAT or Red Cat. RCAT is the ticker.

[Jim Cramer]

Oh, my. No, no, look, Red Cat is an absolute. This is a. Got everything you want. It's got drone, it's got flight recorders, it's got this stuff. And you know what? It's just one darn crazy stuff. But I'll tell you, it's not making any money. So right now you have to go to another show. There's many shows, you can call in on them and they'll say, red cap, blue cat and go buy it. Okay, Red Cat, blue cat. Let's go to Eric in Michigan. Eric.

[Caller]

Jim, I love the show.

[Jim Cramer]

Thank you, Eric.

[Caller]

Jim, Mike Wilson on a recent podcast said that Morgan Stanley economists are predicting one rate cut this year and seven to eight cuts next year. I own a large, very large position in rocket company.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, if that's the case, if that scenario occurs, then you got a bye bye bye rallying now. That's not my scenario. My scenario is that nothing happens because the president is doing stuff that'll make it so that Mr. Powell may say, listen, I can't encourage any inflation. And that could go on for a little bit. But you know what? I think rockets are very fine company. I need to go to Mike. Mike, Mike in Colorado. Mike. Booyah. We are Mike Liberty Energy. Oh, man, I used to. I love the guy used to run thing, you know that. But I've got to tell you, I am not in the oil service business. And not only that, but there's a guy named Halliburton. A lot of people seem to like him. I don't care for the stock of Haliburton. I like slumberjay. Now I'm going to go to Lou in Pennsylvania. Lou, we're lewing down here. Lou.

[Caller]

Hi, Jim. Thanks for my call. First one. Thank you for your wonderful staff. I don't know what you do to deserve it.

[Jim Cramer]

The staff is incredible. But a lot of that's involving Regina Gilgan more than me. I'm okay. I don't throw things at the staff, which distinguishes me as being a nicer fellow.

[Caller]

Than people think your staff is fantastic. So thank you for that.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah. What's the A team? I call them the A team.

[Caller]

They are a. With international access to materials becoming more and more essential, what do you think about Rio Tinto or other alternatives?

[Jim Cramer]

I like Rio Tinto. I like Rio Tinto. I like the yield. I like the company. It's a. It's a globe trotting company, so to speak. I like those guys. Now we're going to go to. Because I haven't dropped dead yet during this lighting round, let's go to Andy in Colorado. Andy.

[Caller]

Hey, Jim. Sending you a big rocky mountain blue sky. Booyah.

[Jim Cramer]

Give me a course. Booyah, will you?

[Caller]

Seriously, I love it, man. Hey, I'm calling about Defi development.

[Jim Cramer]

Another Ben stock Oto name. This time it's a crypto. Now here's where I am on crypto, okay? I am an owner of bitcoin. I am not going to deviate. I like bitcoin. Even up here. I would be a buyer bitcoin, but I got bitcoin. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the conclusion of the Lightning Round.

[Mad Money Producer]

The Lightning round is sponsored by Charles Schwab.

[Jim Cramer]

Last Friday we got a call from Gabe in Michigan who wanted to know about Universal Technical Institute. That's UTI for you home gamers. It's a company that offers training programs for jobs and transportation, skilled trades, healthcare, among other fields. Now this is a Stock that's up 36% year to date, 134% over the past 12 months. I told gain it felt right for the this moment because tons of people need training for new jobs as artificial intelligence makes their old jobs a little bit redundant. After the company got on, got in touch with us so terrific, offered to come on the show, which is great because this small company that most of you probably never heard of, but you should have. So let's take a closer look with Jerome Grant. He's the CEO of Universal Technical Institute. For more. Grant. Welcome to Mad Money.

[Jerome Grant]

Jim. Thanks for having me on the show, sir.

[Jim Cramer]

I have to tell you, this is a company whose time is so perfect in our country and I feel that I should just turn over the floor to you initially to tell people about your fine company, about how frankly, it is a lot of people's savior right now.

[Jerome Grant]

Thanks, Jim. Well, Universal Technical Institute has actually been around for about 60 years. We focus in education for skilled trades, transportation, health care. And I think I agree with you that, that it's really in a sweet spot right now. I think with a lot that's going on in this country and a lot of focus on new manufacturing jobs. The number of manufacturing jobs that are open, over half a million says the labor's department right now. We feel that, you know, we've got a lot of good Runway here to be able to do some good work.

[Jim Cramer]

So if someone comes to your school, let's say they want to learn how to be a fix a windmill, which we see everywhere in this country now, it's a really good business. I don't know anyone who would know how to teach people to do something like that. Except for Universal Technical Institute.

[Jerome Grant]

Yeah, well, I mean there are a few around some community colleges and some other players. We are the largest in the, in the country and, and yet we take it very, very seriously. I mean we, we employ master technicians whether they're welders, whether they're electricians, whether they're H Vac techs, et cetera and very industry aligned. We work very, very closely with our OEM partners like Ford, GM, Mercedes, Peterbilt, Harley Davidson, etc. And we try to give them the most industry aligned education we possibly can.

[Jim Cramer]

Now there was a period where we had a lot of for profit schools and it turned out that they were kind of diploma mills and they didn't, people didn't get jobs and the return on investment was not great. That's pretty much the exact opposite of yours, isn't it sir?

[Jerome Grant]

It absolutely is. I mean we graduate nearly 70% of our students year in, year out. We get jobs for between 80 and 90% at the Universal Technical Institute which is one of our two divisions. Concord Career Colleges is our healthcare division. Universal Technical Institute. There are at least four or five open jobs for every graduate. And usually the graduates who don't go on to a job right away go on to another program so that they can be cross trained in, in other skills. In the health care area there's somewhere between five and 10 jobs for every graduate on our job board. So you know, getting a high quality education, industry aligned and getting out there in the, in the market and working is something we're really, really focused on.

[Jim Cramer]

So how does it work? Does the student pay? Is the federal government helping? And you're going for what, a certification in many of these jobs, correct?

[Jerome Grant]

Absolutely. Well, the funding happens just like any other school, whether it's a community college or a four year campus. Most of our students are fully pell eligible, so they'll get some sort of a grant. They'll also be qualifying for federally backed student loans and then parents often help them out as well as they move through their, their curriculum with us. And so, you know, we operate a model where students move through the curriculum very, very quickly. That's one of our value propositions. Whereas you may be in a community college for two years, you'll be out working within a year if you want to be an auto tech, or even nine months if you want to be a welder.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay, can you help me with what you see in the job market? There are many people suddenly, and this one is why the school is doing so well, but many people in their 20s suddenly tell me, and I do, more than just anecdotal empirical, that they can't find a job because they're in these, going from these professions where a lot of companies are saying, maybe I can have these people replace placed by artificial intelligence. Are you hearing that or is that just anecdotal?

[Jerome Grant]

Well, we are hearing it. I mean, we're, you know, we are doing well and you know, our enrollments were up over 20% in the last quarter. And part and parcel to that is we're getting more young people who are rethinking what they're going to do with their lives. Artificial intelligence plays a big role in even the skilled trades. I mean, diagnostic tools and automotive and in health care are all, you know, incredibly infused with artificial intelligence. And we teach those cutting technologies, but they're enabling tools. At the end of the day though, artificial intelligence isn't going to take blood from you, isn't going to change your oil. And what we're able to demonstrate to students who are thinking, do I want to go into one of these fields or one of those, is that, you know, what we offer is something that has the technology but is not going to be replaced by it.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay, now also, it seems logical and natural that high schoolers should be thinking about Universal Technical Institute, correct?

[Jerome Grant]

Yeah, absolutely. We actually have over 150 recruiters out in the 25,000 high schools around, around the country. About half of the students that come into Universal Technical Institute come directly from high school. The other half come either through the military after serving their service, or are people who probably should have come after high school but went out into unskilled labor, found that that wasn't really a career, and then come back to get a certification or an associate's degree or one of the programs that we offer.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, this is a terrific company. I'm glad that our viewer of course, brought it to our attention. But boy, is it ever right for when you get a more tepid economy and people really need a job. And there are jobs, but you can't just walk into these jobs. It's too hard. They got to be trained by Universal Technical Institute. That's Jerome Grant, CEO of Universal Technical Institute. Mr. Grant, thank you for coming on the show.

[Jerome Grant]

Thanks Jim. Thanks for having me.

[Jim Cramer]

I like to say there's always more market summer. I promise. I've got it just for you right here on Mad Money. I'm Drew Kramer. I will see you Tuesday.

[Bank of America Representative]

All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Kramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of cnbc, NBC Universal 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 Imagine what's possible in your business career when learning doesn't get in the way of life at Capella University. Our game changing flexpath learning format is available in select business programs and lets you learn at a time and pace that works for you. That means you don't have to put your life on hold while earning your business degree. Instead, enjoy learning your way and earn your degree without missing a beat. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn [e-mail].