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Keith Lansford
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Jim Cramer
Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Creymore. My friends, I'm just trying to make a little money. My job, okay, not just to teach and entertain, but I am going to give you a lesson tonight about what not to do when these bombs start flying. So call me at 1873 CBC. Between me, Jim Cramer, nobody honestly expected that Iran would do nothing to retaliate against the United States, right? The arsenal of theocracy seems to have more missiles than people, certainly more than we seem to have ourselves. But the whole point of this exercise was to take out Iran's nuclear program. And they clearly don't have nukes anymore. Or maybe they would have used them by now. Today, the market breathed a bullish sigh of relief when Iran simply fired ordinary missiles at our military bases in the region. At least so far there haven't been any casualties. President Trump said Iran gave them advanced knowledge of the missile attack, which seems like a bit of a waste of their arsenal. He thanked them in social media for the heads up. We blew up the nuclear program and that's all they can come up with. Those conventional missiles fired at US Soldiers and gutter were not enough to stop this market. This is a market that wants to go higher. Dow advancing 375 points, S&P gaining point 96. Nasdaq climbed 0.94%. And look, clearly the stock market's got it right because the price of oil only closed down more than $6 or 8% today. If it looked like Iran was going to do something serious to retaliate, oil would have stayed. But either they can't or they won't. And oil is saying that this spike of the last few weeks, it is over. Perhaps Iran launched this pro forma missile attack because they can't afford to close the Straits of Hormuz, as that would cut off their own ability to fund whatever is left of their anemic economy. It would be the height of folly for them to take out their principal method of export. Yet we heard they were going to do that all weekend. It's never happened. Either way, the Iranian response didn't matter. Oils back to where this were, where it was before the war started. And that was the signal to buy stocks, which is exactly what people did. Sure, maybe Iran's holding back something. I know. But if this is all they have, then Iran has a real poor hand and this region's chaos stays in the region. Without oil going higher, the only thing that might impact our. Our economy. Our economy. The market tends to move on. That's it. At the end of the day, chaos in the Middle east is business as usual for Wall Street. So what happens now? Do we focus on our own response to Iran's lame attack? No, we go back to where we were thinking before the airstrike on Saturday night. Before we get to what happens next, can we please go back to what happened that afternoon for a little lesson here about not panicking, let's go over that moment, because this is so often the case with anything military that puts our soldiers in harm's way for the first time in a new land. It was a time of terror for many investors. Maybe for you, maybe for you. And it's the last and teachable moment that I want to use before I tell you what business as usual now looks like. When the US dropped its bunker busters on Fordo and the other targets, I was at a fabulous wedding in Napa, California. Congratulations to Madison and Tommy Decipher, the officiant told us to silence our phones, which means, by the way, turn them off. But just a few minutes after the bride correctly said, I do, we knew both the launch and the result. A second away from the procession's exit, people began to ask me about what it would mean for Monday. Oh, they were all so scared. I got up to speed. Instead of answering, I turned the tables and said, well, what do you think? Okay, get this. The range down 500 down points to down 5% for the entire market. Nobody said it was going to go up. I said that that's the case. You got to buy. Why? Why? People asked. I came back and said, well, what would you sell and why no one had an answer. And mind you, these are people who own stocks. I asked them if they liked their stocks. They said yes. So I said why not buy more? They said there could be retaliation. I was unconvinced. Iran's been firing missiles at Israel for a while now and it hasn't made much of an impact. See this kind of weak thrust and sensible parry about stocks. It went on all night. Everyone had a desire to sell or thought the others would sell so therefore they should sell. But they didn't know whether to join the sellers in the end. But it seemed like the right thing to do. I came back and said what do your companies have to do with the selling in the S&P 500 futures? That could monopolize things. That will be what goes down. Why not hold fast? Why not buy? It's just too counterintuitive for most people to process. Was it counterintuitive for you? Let's think about this. Here's what's missing. The P E that's right, the price to earnings multiple. It doesn't go down when there's something like a missile strike because individual stocks simply can't be related to an extraneous event like this. If the US hadn't slammed Iran's big nuclear facilities then maybe someday Iran would have dropped the nuclear in Israel. That's an existential threat that could impact everything. But if you take out the Iranian nuclear program, then Iran is another country that's at the mercy of our nuclear armed, well, let's say our machine. As a result, there can not be much that they can do. And when we realized that they couldn't against our great defense while the stock market roared wiping out the nuclear facilities was bullish for our stocks, plain and simple. So we don't ignore Iran but because our initial attack went well, we kind of went back to our regularly scheduled programming. Now what does that mean? We go back to earnings, we go back to secular theses. We go back of course to the Fed. Today two key members of the Federal Reserve actually talked about how rate cuts could be in our future, possibly as soon as next month of the tariffs. Tariffs don't bump things up too much. No, it wasn't from Jay Powell who continues to be ridiculed by the President for declining to cut rates. But they were important enough to set the tone in the absence of negative news in the Middle East. Rate cuts market goes higher don't you dare out think that it was the chief reason why we went higher today. If we found out that the Iranian missiles attack didn't produce any fatalities. Lower oil, lower rates. What's not to like? Then we had news that could be traded on. Let's see. Met is going on a hiring spree for top talent. Bullish. Microsoft's growing more lean. Bullish. Tesla gets the Robotaxi off the ground with a flat fee of 420. Really bullish. BMY the old bank of New York trying to buy Northern Trust. Kind of deal that would never even be considered under the previous administration because of concentration of custodial bank industry. Extremely bullish. Netflix gets its usual push. Amazingly bullish. Palantir does nothing. Super bullish. And on and on. Here's the bottom line. I know that all sounds good, but it's accurate. It's what happens. And you need to know that. I don't think we could have had such a bullish day without those Fed officials floating the idea of imminent rate cuts. But it's entirely possible that our government destroyed Iran's nuclear program. That means this war may be nearing its end and a jump in oil prices may have been taken off the table. If anything, oil could really plummet here as Russia and Iran flood the world with much need for much needed cash. That's what the market's saying. And that's what I'm saying, too. Frank in Virginia.
Frank
Frank, Jimmy Choo. Welcome back.
Jim Cramer
Whoa, man. Good to hear your voice. What's going on?
Frank
Nothing much, man. Thank you so much. Big booyah from Northern Virginia. Thank you so much for all you do for us investing club members and of course, the general CNBC viewer.
Jim Cramer
All right, remember, Wednesday, 12 o' clock, Jeff Marks and I could be fireworks, could be sparks or no, there could be education and teaching. Go ahead.
Frank
Oh, man. Can't wait. Well, Jim, my question today is about a red hot stock, very popular one that you keep raising your price target on. But I want to know what's it gonna take for you to get behind this stock like you do with the core weave, per se? My stock is Palantir, but the core.
Jim Cramer
Weave, we got the four times there. That was a good one. Right now, palantir at 50. I said it's going to 100. At 100, I said it's going to 210. Can I wait till it gets to 200 before I have to raise my price target? But I will, believe me. Hey, and thank you for the kind words. And don't forget that Wednesday meeting. Let's go to John in New York. John, Hi, Jim.
Frank
This is John from New York.
Jim Cramer
Love your Show. Thank you. My question today was about the Circle Internet group.
Frank
Should I hold ourselves?
Jim Cramer
Okay. Circle is a short squeeze. Tomorrow morning you will sell 50% of your position 5o. You will let the rest run. You will do that tomorrow for me. And I thank you. Hey, how about we go to Ken in Florida, please? Ken.
Frank
Booyah. Professor Kramer, I have followed you for decades and made a lot of money listening to your words of wisdom.
Jim Cramer
Excellent. Thank you.
Frank
The stock that I'm calling about has a PE of over 73% but it only has an annual growth rate of about 25% which I know falls a little bit below your 2 to 1 ratio. But it hit an all time high today of about $320 and only only pays a diminimous amount of dividends. But it accounts for about 50% of my account. Actively traded IRA and about 16% of my personal account.
Jim Cramer
And.
Frank
And my basis is only about $50. So I only sell in my IRA account where I have been trying to pare down.
Jim Cramer
What stock would that be?
Frank
It's Heiko hdi.
Jim Cramer
Oh man. That is an aerospace defense stock. That is such a good company. Look, I mean it is reckless for me to say don't sell any with that concentration that you have. So you will take some off tomorrow just because you're going to be a good soldier. But I got to tell you, I like the stock. Is that a. Is that a contrary, contradictory thing, what I just said? No. Discipline always trumps conviction. I have conviction that the stock will go up, but discipline says you got to do some selling. Look, the market is telling us that this conflict in the Middle east could actually be nearing an end. That the President did take out those nuclear facilities. And if that is the case, we can go back to focusing on what's bullish out there. Oh man. But it's right. We need to get a handle on the situation Middle east more than we've done so far. What does it mean for the price of oil and gas? We're going to go to Rusty, Brazil, Barbie and Energy to get some answers. That Darden Restaurants for a real strong quarter. Sitting in stock higher last week. But after giving up some of those gains today, could the stock still have much more room to run? I'm giving my take and then you stopped me at this little thing called Arlo Technologies. I gotta turn in my homework to you. Why? Because I work for you. So stay with Kramer.
Keith Lansford
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. Missed something? Head to madmoney.cnbc.com.
Rusty Brazil
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Keith Lansford
Better 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.
Jim Cramer
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down.
Keith Lansford
So to help us, we brought in.
Jim Cramer
A reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium wireless everybody get 30 30. Everybody get 30 get 20, 2020 get 20, 2020 get 151515 15. Just 15 bucks a month. So give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront.
Rusty Brazil
Payment of 45 for three month plan equivalent to 15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy taxes and fees extra. See mint mobile.com.
Jim Cramer
Some people feel we dodged a bullet today initially when our government took out three Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities. Wall street, of course, were panicked. Price of oil surge, which is what you expect whenever things get unstable in the Middle East. But then Iran retaliated by shooting some conventional missiles at a US base and gutter, and they were even warned to minimize casualties. It was crazy. Sure seems like they don't have the cards, and they know it. In response, the price of oil then plummeted. So could the worst be behind us or the more complications? We need to consider now that we're a whole lot closer to a war with Iran, Some people feel I'm not so sure. To answer these questions, we need to check in with the best energy expert out there, Rusty Brazil. He's the founder and executive chairman of RBN Energy. Rusty, welcome back to Mad Money.
Ryan Reynolds
Well, good to be back with you, Jim.
Jim Cramer
All right, so, Rusty, you have taught me so much over the years. And one thing you've taught me is this whole discussion. Straits of Hormuz, 20% go through it. Just think about what the US has done. Stop being like the conventional thinkers who believe that we are all hostage to this one little straight. Could you please just demystify the whole thing that I heard all for the last 72 hours?
Ryan Reynolds
Well, Jim, Iran has been talking about closing down the Straits of Hormuz for 20 years or more. Every time there's a big conflict like this, and they've never done it. And the reason why is they've got 1.7 million barrels a day of exports that goes straight through the Straits of Hormuz. So if they end up cutting it off, they're going to end up cutting off themselves. So it's pretty unlikely that that happens unless things get a lot more dire than they are that they seem to be right now. And I think the reason why you saw crude oil prices come back down five bucks this afternoon or during the day today is simply because the market has concluded that it's simply not going to be as much of a problem as they thought.
Jim Cramer
Russ. I would think also that that 1.7 million, that they would block themselves. I think that the US Would pick up some share if that occurred. Right.
Ryan Reynolds
Well, if 1.7 million barrels a day was all of a sudden out of the market, then the price of oil is going way up. That's obviously going to impact what's happening in the United States. And that just means that barrels that are exported out of the United States become that much more valuable. So, you know, there's some positive sides to it, if you want to look at it that way.
Jim Cramer
Are we stuck at 13.5 million, or do you think that there is some underutilized capacity if we get all the different mechanisms to export from pipeline to two very large crude carriers that we could have right in peers right next to our country?
Ryan Reynolds
Well, I wouldn't say stuck at 13.5. We've actually have our forecast going up a few hundred thousand barrels after that, but it's pretty much topped out. And in the next few years, say 20, 32 or 33, we're probably headed back down. But very slowly, effectively, right now we are flat. And it's going to stay flat for the. For as as far as we can see.
Jim Cramer
All right, so let's talk about today. We got some real wild action today. And it made me feel like once again, that the oil futures market may not correctly accurately reflect what's happening. You know, you have these giant swings. Rusty, it is a little unrealistic, is it?
Ryan Reynolds
No, Jim, it's like any other market. It's just like markets were equities. There was a news event. Everybody jumped in on the news event. And as soon as the market got in there, the smart money looked at it and said, look, every single time there has been some sort of war, sable rattling, that sort of thing, as soon as the event happens, the price simply drops. So that's happened ever since the 2003 George Bush Iraq invasion. Price dropped 10 bucks as soon as that invasion happened. And if you look at the majority of times, every time there has been an event like this, the price has gone down, not up. So that's the market already has basically priced in the uncertainty in the market. And as soon as the uncertainty dials down a few notches and the price drops down, and that's what happened today.
Jim Cramer
Okay, that's very. I find that personally very bullish for stocks. Now, we are having a hard time with the Chinese. They are. They would love nothing more than the best of the best, the Nvidia chips. We, on the other hand, feel like we've got something that we can give them, but we can block, which is ethane. Now, the problem here is, is that we're not willing to give them the chips. They have rare earth minerals that they could hold back. Rusty, rare earth minerals versus ethane. Make some sense of this for me, please.
Ryan Reynolds
Well, rare earth minerals are a lot bigger deal than ethane is. Ethane is a very significant deal for the petrochemical industry and for the companies that are exporting ethane. So I don't mean to minimize the situation, but right now it's being used. Ethane is being used as a bargaining chip in this magnet rare earth debate that's going on right now between the US And China. And as it stands right now, it has not been resolved. So the problem that we have is that ethane exports, and we've been. We produce about half a Million barrels a day or export about half a million barrels a day. And about half of that goes to China. And right now all exports of ethane are prohibited by the Department of Commerce. And that is really causing some serious problems for the folks that actually export those barrels.
Jim Cramer
Well, wait a second. Look, natural gas liquids, I know gutters is a large producer, but we're right up there. You're telling me that we are. That the commerce Secretary is basically cutting our nose off. Despite our face. We've got real companies involved who make ethane. And we're telling them basically what their. Their ships have to stay in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Ryan Reynolds
We have to go out there and we have to park those ships. And as soon as we run out of ships to park, we've got a bigger problem on our hands.
Jim Cramer
Well, but that, I mean, if I'm Enterprise Pilot Partners, a very, very good company, right. Energy transfer, a company does very well. They're the guys who are really going to get hurt. The Chinese aren't going to get hurt.
Ryan Reynolds
The. That is exactly right. So we've been advocating everything that we can in order to get this prohibition removed. And it's worse than that, Jim, because what's happening in the global markets is a lot of customers for US Exports are looking at what's happening to ethane and saying, look, you guys have basically taken ethane and make it a bargaining chip in this entire debate. You could do that with any of your energy products. We don't know if we want to buy energy exports from the United States or not. In effect, we've weaponized ethane. The market knows it. And that means that the market is no longer looking at the US Exporters of energy commodities as a trustworthy supplier. That's bad.
Jim Cramer
I would tell you no one's making that point except for you. I've not heard that argued before. I think it's outrageous. If it doesn't do any good, why should our great American companies be hurt? It's not doing anything. Thank you for bringing that to attention. And thank you for all along telling me. Listen, the whole 20% straight. That is not the way you should look at it. Because I heard that all weekend and I'm tired of being. Of getting the misdirection because otherwise you'd be buying oil today and you just got crushed.
Ryan Reynolds
We got crushed, that's right. So we're right back to exactly where we were on oil prices before for Israel. Israel ever did the first attack. A week and a week and a few days.
Jim Cramer
That is incredible. Well, I knew that you always bring it to me straight. Other people, you got to listen to this man because you heard a lot of misinformation over the last 72 hours. I am telling you that that's Rusty Brazil is the founder, executive chairman of RBN Energy, something I start my day with every day because he does his Boltons. But this one was like a 555 or 605. I love them when you do them. The earlier the better. 605. Thank you, Rusty. Good to talk to you.
Ryan Reynolds
All right, thank you.
Jim Cramer
Mad Money's back after the break.
Keith Lansford
Coming up, could unlimited breadsticks lead to unlimited returns? Kramer's taking a closer look at a restaurant stock next. 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.
Jim Cramer
Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of.
Rusty Brazil
Unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back.
Jim Cramer
So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
Rusty Brazil
Of $45 for a three month plan equivalent to $15 per month. Required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of network's busy taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com.
Jim Cramer
At the open today. When oil was up significantly after the US Attack on Iranian nuclear facilities this weekend, a number of consumer related stocks sold off. These investors figured they would look higher. Gas prices could take a big bite out discretionary spending most that actually reversed itself after the limp risk of midday response from Iran with the consumer discretionary group ending the day as the best performing sector. What a day. But one consumer stock remained down for the day and that's the one we're going to talk about because I think it presents a comparison compelling opportunity for you out there. And I'm talking about Darden Restaurants, the parent company of ones all these names you know so about Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Ruth Chris Steakhouse, Cheddar's, Scratch Kitchen, the Capital Grill, one of my Faves. Last Friday, Driver put a phenomenal quarter. I mean sending the stock to a new all time high on Friday despite an ugly take. Now this is just the latest in a long line of strong results from these guys. Henry, why? The stock was up already 19% for the year going earnings. But today the stock pulled back almost 2%. So I know we talk about was down a lot more at one point, but you're getting this great quarter for free. I think that is quite simply a steal. Darden's blended same store sales were up 4.6%. Wall street was only looking for 3.5% and it was driven by tremendous strength. At Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse, total revenue and earnings per share both came in a little higher than expected. On top of that, management gave a solid full year forecast. Even if the headline numbers were a tad light. The stock still rallied on Friday because Darden also announced a $1 billion buyback, which is a lot for a company with just a $26 billion market capitalization. They also raise their dividend by 7.1% to the point where now the stock sports a 2.7% yield. Not bad. So those are the numbers which were fine, but the story behind the numbers was even better. And that's something you'd only know if you listen to the conference call like I always tell you that you have to do before you buy any stock. There were a bunch of positives here. Olive Garden brought back this buy one, take one promotion. One entree in the store with a second to take home starting at just 1499. What is that's terrific deal. It was a huge success. Management said that Olive Garden same store sales outpaced the broader industry by 4 to 50 basis points during the promotion. Customer seeking value seems to balk at anything north of 11 bucks. Okay, so two meals at 750. Olive Garden's delivery business is just en fuego. They recently launched a new campaign to promote delivery across multiple channels, including free delivery promotion that's partially funded by Uber. Apparently average weekly deliveries per restaurant nearly doubled during the last two weeks of the quarter, all thanks to this program. Now this is really exciting for me because this happens to be one of my absolute flavors. Places people don't understand how good it is. Longhorn steak. Longhorn steak that start in second largest brand manager said quote their ongoing commitment to quality, simplicity and culture continues to drive the momentum. End quote. As their quote, entire team remains obsessed with serving the highest quality stakes in casual dining. End quote. Simple formula, but it's clearly working longer, a new all time high for customer satisfaction in the quarter. And the concept reached a major milestone, surpassing $3 billion in annual revenue for the first time in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in May. And their Bloody Marys are unbelievable that that's the analyst and say that I did of course not every corner of the company is doing as well as Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse and Darden's fine dining division, which includes the Capital Grill and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Same same store restaurants. The sales they declined 3.3% in the quarter, far worse than the 0.2% decline that Wall street was expecting. That is very disappointing. Management said, quote the fine dining category as a whole continues to be challenged, but they offer a silver lining by adding that quote they're seeing sequential improvement in guest traffic from households earning $150,000 and above. End quote. The final segment is other business, meaning all of Darden smaller restaurant chains like Yard House, cheddar, scratch Christian seasons 52, Eddie V's, Bahama Breeze and now Chewy's. The smaller brands same store sales they grew 1.2% which was a little better than expected thanks to strength at Yard House and Cheddar's. Darden also said that the integration of choose is progressing as planned, but some of the other concepts are struggling, like this Bahama Breeze, which Darden's actively shrinking by closing many of its locations. On Friday's conference call, CEO Rick Cardenas also gave a quick summary of Darden's new five year plan. I found pretty encouraging. As part of the five year plan process, the company made the decision to pursue the strategic alternatives for the Small Bomb and Breeze chain, which only has 28 stores left over after 15 of the worst performing locations were closed in May. They're also planning to pursue more opportunities in franchising, including with Olive Garden in Canada. Cartina said that one of the reasons that Darden acquired Bruce Chris a couple of years ago was to give it more scale and expertise in franchising, which is still a small business part of Darden's business, although they're hoping to grow it a lot more going forward. But perhaps the most interesting thing from the company's earnings call came from a response that Cardenas gave to the first analyst question. That was from Eric Gonzales from KeyBank, who asked, quote, perhaps you can give us your perspective on why casual dining is having a bit of a moment right now and quote specifically want to know why some of the larger chains like the ones run by Darden appear to be doing much better than the sport owner operators. Cardenas explained that it's all about value. During the past five years, while the price of everything is going up, Darden has worked hard to keep its prices. Price increases below inflation is absolutely true. And now the consumers have become more value conscious. They're going to places like Olive Garden that offer them tremendous deals. It's got to the point where Darden is taking share from the fast food and fast casual change they used to dominate. On the value front, that tracks with what we've seen on Wall street, where some of the best performers in the space in recent years have been Darden Breaker International, parent company of Chili's, and my personal favorite, Texas Roadhouse, which we own for the Travel Trust. Same goes for Cracker Barrel. More recently, I've been pushing that story, you know, that since last summer, explaining that consumers are still willing to spend on meals away from home, but only if they feel like they're getting their money's worth. And according to Darden, right now that means they want casual dining and they love the $11 and lower price points that these chains offer for dinner. Now, today, after the strike zone Iran over the weekend, many consumer related stocks opened and down, presumably because Wall street concerned that higher oil prices will leave consumers with less money to spend on everything else. The stock at one point dropped $8, but you know, then it cut that loss in half when we found out how ineffective the Iranian attack was. Oil end up closing down more than 8%, which is incredibly bullish for Dart stock. The bottom line, I think you're getting a tremendous opportunity with the Dart St pullback today. Not only are you getting a good quarter for free, but if higher oil really does take a bite out of consumer spending, companies like Darden might be able to take even more market share because they're the ones that offer people the best value. At this moment, with the stock selling for roughly 20 times this year's earnings estimates, supporting a 2.7% yield, not to mention that $1 billion buyback. I bet this one is a winner. Joshua in Georgia. Joshua.
Frank
Booyah. Dr. Kramer, first time. Will Keurig, Dr. Pepper be able to.
Ryan Reynolds
Compete with Coca Cola long term despite high debt?
Jim Cramer
Thank you. Yeah, no, I don't want to touch that one. I think if you want to be in that space, you want to be in Coca Cola. I think Coca Cola is demonstrated. First of all, I don't want to be in that space because there's just. I got the Secretary of Health and Human Services is against it. The GOP dash ones renewing of Mamgen just makes it tougher and tougher. You don't want to be in the space, but if you had to be in Coca Cola. I found a gym can. I don't know if you guys check the cans. I always check. And you know that James Quincy knows that he's the CEO. I'm always I was like one was like amigo and one was friend. That's a Jim. My executive producer Regina has says there's never been a Regina ever. Let's go to Miles in California. Miles.
Frank
Good afternoon, Jim. Thanks for having me on. My question today is about Visa. I know it has a strong history of success over the 10 plus year period it's been traded. They're in over 200 countries across the world despite them being, you know, a bit of a zigzag but generally trending up to the right. My question is what do you think their prospects are for future growth? Giving that I'm just now thinking of initiating a position. There seems to be lots of activity in the financial space with the advent of stablecoin crypto. And then you have the more traditional players such as Venmo and PayPal who have been operating very similarly as well as the back end companies such as Chime and I'm forgetting the other one, but with their stripe.
Jim Cramer
Stripe is there, right? I mean that's what people say. It's not real but. Well, look, let me just go over this Visa situation. There have been many, many times in my career that people challenged Visa. Many times that people have sold Visa. Every time they are wrong and they will be wrong again. Anyway, I think you're getting a great buying opportunity right now with Darden and with the stocks increased dividend, new buyback, I'm betting it's going to be a winner going forward. You'll really check it out. It's down 2% today. Should have been up now. Much more money head Arlo Technologies almost doubled in the last few months. I'm surveying what's behind the strength in that small cap stock. Very compelling story for your portfolio. Then we look we lost a real disruptor this weekend. FedEx founder Fred Smith was a personal friend of mine. I'm looking back on the life and legacy of a man who really did change the world. And we're all the worse for it. And all your calls rapid fire in tonight's edition of the Lightning round. So with Krager, whenever I get a call about a company that I haven't been following or don't even recognize. I take the time to do some homework. I want to come back to you with a considered opinion. I don't want to cuff anything today. I've got another one for you. Right before I went on vacation, Brian in my home state of Pennsylvania asked about a company called Arlo Technology. Since Arlo, this used to be Netgear's home security division for it was spun off as a separate business back in 2018. Basically, they make smart security systems take everything from outdoor cameras to video doorbells to normal home security systems. Backed by the company's 24. 7 professional monitoring service, Arlo Technologies also has a personal safety service with 24. 7 emergency response and automatic crash detection. When you get old enough, you need this stuff to protect yourself. Even though the home security market in the United States is worth about $25 billion, most of that old fashioned security systems management says that smart home security services only have about 7% of the market. Opportunity Management also sees an opportunity outside of just single family households. Arlo seen the adoption of their cellular enabled products in a variety of different use cases including for neighborhood watch groups, construction site site, monitoring wildlife and outdoor trail surveillance and helping with surveillance for large events. They also put all this stuff together in one enhanced subscription service. And the most expensive version costs less than $25 per month. When you sign up for a full year, that to me seems like a bargain. So how's the business doing? When all the technologies reported last month, the headline numbers were more than solid. Company posted a modest revenue beat even though its product sales were down 25% year over year thanks to lower average selling prices across the entire industry. Our subscription business though grew by 21%. They added 298,000 subscribers last quarter alone, ending the period with 4.9 million paid accounts. That is up 51% year over year. I mean, that's insane growth for a company in the home security business. In fact, as we look on the conference call, Arlo subscriber count just broke through 5 million users. Management now sees an opportunity to eventually double that number. Hit 10 million subs by 2030. As you might expect, the growth in the subscription business has been more than made up for admit for that drop off in the product business. It doesn't hurt that the subscriptions and services have substantially higher margins than the rest of the business. That's how it happens. And that's why the gross margin for arlo expanded by 600 basis points year over year, rising to 83% which is the kind of normal Number you normally only see in sulfur. These software stocks that tend to have that same level. That helped the company reach a record free cash flow number for the quarter, along with record earnings per share, which also came in well above expectations. Not that there were a lot of expectations though. When you dig down, Arlo's average revenue per user grew 7% just versus the previous quarter 15% from the previous year. Wow. As management explained on the conference call, the lifetime value of their average member is now over $700. While there were some concerns earlier in the year that Arlo might struggle in this tricky economic environment, the business is clearly doing just fine. In fact, management disclosed that they haven't seen any drop off in demand through the first five weeks of the current quarter. If you're worried about the economy, you might spend less on discretionary goods. But I really doubt most people think of home security as discretionary spending. In many places it's a necessity. How about the impact of tariffs? Well, Arlo gets less than 25% of its revenue from hardware devices that are imported from overseas. They might get ding, but not by very much. In fact, the majority of their revenue and nearly all their earnings are unaffected by the President's tariffs. Plus, the company now gets 58% of its revenue from that subscription services business I talked about, which is totally unrelated to international trade. Doesn't hurt that subscription business is, yes, booming. Looking ahead, Arlo is now plan planning its largest ever product launch for the 2025 holiday season, which will encompass over 100 different items. That includes Arlo Secure 6.0, which has new AI powered intelligence features like fire detection, advanced audio detection, detailed video events descriptions and powerful video search capabilities. Basically, it can give you notice of everything from breaking glass, screaming and gunshots to your neighbor's noisy dog. So Arlo's business looks strong. Where do I come down the stock? Here's the problem. It's tricky to analyze a company like Arlo Technologies because there's a lot of competition in that home security space. We're not just talking about mom and pop outfits here. We're talking about serious established companies like ADT and megacap technology outfits that have stretched their tentacles into home security. Think Google, Nest, Amazon Ring. That said, Arla stock is darn cheap compared to its growth rate. Companies earnings expected to grow at 55% clip this year. Yet the stock only sells for 27 times earnings. Where I'm from, that's a steel. While competitors like ADT trade at a much more modest 10 times earnings, they also have much slower Growth rates. In some markets, growth oriented managers would be willing to pay more than percent 50, 50 times earnings for a company with a 50% earnings growth rate. And honestly that's pretty lightly. While all those products revenue is down, their higher margin subscription service business is growing like a weed. Just keep in mind that you're buying stock that's up over 50% since it reported in early May. Buoyed by the announcement earlier this month that arlo had eclipsed 300 million in annual revenue. That's the recurring revenue. Okay, so here's the bottom line is a tough one here. See, I think Arlo Technologies has a real good story. Relatively cheap stock. But then again the thing has run up so rapidly that it might be due for a cooling off period. I don't like to recommend stocks that have moved that far that fast. So here's what you can do. Got my blessing to put on a small position here. But you gotta wait for a buyback before you buy more. Get money's back everywhere.
Keith Lansford
Coming up, Kramer takes your calls. And the sky's the limit. It's a fast fire lightning round Next.
Jim Cramer
It is time for the lightning round. And then the lightning round is over. Are you ready? Ski day double right now. We'll start with Gary. Oh, how Gary. Good afternoon, Jim.
Frank
Thank you for taking my call and your wonderful staff.
Jim Cramer
My staff is brilliant. They're great. I know people would just kill to work on that staff. Go ahead.
Frank
I have a question. It's about oklo. Oklo, Okay.
Jim Cramer
I know OKLO really well. There'll be a time where I said, listen, don't touch it. But you know what? Nuclear is coming back. I'm not going to keep anybody out of oklow. It is just too much, too likely that they actually do. Okay, let's go to Kevin in Virginia. Kevin.
Frank
Yes, sir. Big booyah.
Jim Cramer
I see you, Jim.
Frank
How you doing?
Jim Cramer
I am good. How about you?
Frank
I'm great. Sweating a little bit out here, but not too bad.
Jim Cramer
All right. Try air conditioning. It works. This was amazing.
Frank
That's right. Wanted to get your thoughts on Roblox.
Jim Cramer
I want to be Roblox goes higher. Dave Bouzucki. It turns out to be the real deal. And I know that some people were concerned that they weren't doing the right thing ethically. I see it. I think. I think bouzouki ethical man. Ethical product. People really like him. Let's go to Nikhil in Michigan. Nikhil, Hello. Nikhil, speak to me.
Frank
Hi, can you hear me?
Jim Cramer
Yeah, absolutely. You sound clear as a bell. What's happening?
Frank
Hey, Jim, thanks for taking my call, man.
Jim Cramer
I really appreciate it. No problem.
Frank
And first of all, thanks for doing this lightning round. That really helps a small investor like us, you know?
Jim Cramer
Okay. I have a question about Lulu. You know what? I'm going to say something I don't like to say. I don't think I'm the call on Lulu. I did tell people that I thought it had bottomed and I was dead wrong. And it's important to own up that I was wrong. I thought it had come down enough that perhaps you. It could have bounced, and I didn't get it right. So I am going to punt and say I don't understand Lulu, I got it wrong, and let's just move on. I need to go to Bill of Massachusetts. Bill. Jim, I have to do a little testimonial here.
Frank
I have 12 stocks, five that you've either greenlighted or a club stock, that have doubled, quadrupled, tripled, or quadrupled in the last 18 months.
Jim Cramer
Yes. And don't forget Wednesday, we got a meeting at 12. People got to join the club. I met so many club members this vacation. It was incredible.
Frank
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Jim Cramer
Listen, can I. Can I get your reading on Reddit?
Rusty Brazil
I'm making up.
Jim Cramer
I like Reddit. I think Huffman's the real deal. I think that they're advertising. You can reach people there. It is. Best advertising break there is. I am not kidding. You can target an audience with advertising. It is so much cheaper than all these social medias. And one day they're going to be able. Everyone's going to find out about it. I'm telling you, between you and me right now, also the rest of the audience, thank you for those nice words. How about we go to Art, Maryland. Art. Art. Art. Hello, Art. I don't know what to do. You know, I'm gonna have to move on. Art. They are. Whoa. Oh, that was close. What's going on?
Frank
Yo, it's Art in Bethesda. I had a question about Black Sky B. Yeah.
Jim Cramer
Philadelphia Zone. Okay, now this is a very hard look. They do this real time spatial. I saw Maxar does that for the Times. I think it's a competitive space. I'm not sure I want to be in it, especially because the stock's up a great deal. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a conclusion of the Lightning Round.
Keith Lansford
The Lightning Round is sponsored by Charles Schwab. Coming up, Kramer's taking a look back at the life of a corporate visionary who changed the game for Americans. A tribute to FedEx founder Fred Smith. Next.
Jim Cramer
Most famous people put their pants on one leg at a time, just like anybody else. You know who knew that man by the name of Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx. Fred passed away this weekend, and to me, that's hard to process. He's been an unstoppable force for ages. Yale graduate, dedicated Marine, and a visionary who changed everything because he knew that there had to be a better way to send mail than the U.S. postal Service. So he came up with overnight mail. The rest was history. But not easy history. When at Yale, Fred wrote his economics thesis on overnight delivery, you got to see an old Bosch professor thought it impractical. No, Fred didn't set out immediately to prove him wrong. He joined the Marine Corps after graduating. He told me recently that going to Vietnam was what you did, but because you love the country, that's the way it was. He did not one, but two tours in Vietnam, finishing as a captain, having been awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. In short, Fred was a hero. Only then did he come back home to start his vision 71. Bernie threw his inheritance and a nice chunk of venture capitalist money, down to his last $5,000. Stung by rising fuel costs, Fred went to Vegas and won big at Blackjack. North of 25 grand, he told me, saving the company with the proceeds. I first got to know Fred a couple dozen years ago when he was a regular guest on Kudlow and Kramer, my old talk show, which we pitch as sort of a business oriented version of Crossfire. He was our show's chief economist, one of the few individuals that both Larry Kudlow and I trusted. He was pretty much right all the time. Fred was an admitted globalist who knew that commerce was a uniting force that could bring down barriers. It was a good thing he was at the forefront using robots to replace humans at the loading dock, because humans, he would tell you, were in short supply. I stayed in touch with Fred and we went to the Eagles Steelers game last fall. We got to go on the field and spend some time with his son, Arthur Smith, the Steelers offensive coordinator. Fred talked business with me, but what he really wanted to talk about was how proud he was of his kids. And he and my wife would chat just about that. She got to sit next to him at a presentation by Drew Brees, legendary Saints quarterback and the current quarterback from the Bengals, Joe Burrow, right before the super bowl in New Orleans. My wife's a great judge of character, someone who typically disdains captain Industry because of their lack of Humility. That sure wasn't Fred. She loved them. When we weren't talking football, he talked Marines. He had a picture of his outfit in his wallet and he showed me how many men in that picture died for our country. I told him about my dad who got a Bronze Star during World War II in Lady Gulf. He was so proud of my pop and looked him up at this thing called the American Battle Monuments foundation, one of the many charities he supported. Fred was monumentally charitable. I gave and will continue to give to that charity in his honor. Fred can be remembered for so many things, but since this is a business show, I want to acknowledge that he was someone who had a dream and he made that dream happen. Too often only hear about dreams coming true in Silicon Valley. But you need to know that Fred was a pioneer, just like those greats out there. He created something genuinely useful to change the world. He did this while staying humble. He always introduced himself as someone from FedEx. Not the founder, the former CEO or the CEO, just another worker. But he created, he executed, and now we all know it and use it. Remember one time FedEx didn't exist as anything more than a college thesis with a mediocre grade. Then when he got back from the war, he pulled it off for the greater good while never being anything other than Fred Smith, a real good dad and a husband who ran a business that did indeed change all of us. Fred, we will sure miss you. You were the best we had. I like to say this is always a bull market summer, I promise. Try to find it just for you, right here on Mad Money. I'm Jim Cramer. See you tomorrow.
Rusty Brazil
All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Kramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal or their parent company or affiliates and may have been previously disseminated by Kramer on television, radio, Internet or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed by Jim Cramer as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion. Kramer's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Mad Money disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com madmoneydisclaimer on WhatsApp. Your personal messages stay private between you and whoever you send them to, so things like the passport numbers for your honeymoon stay between you and your fiance and that video call for your gran's 80th stays in the family. Even your streaming password stays between you and your college roommates, who still ask for it every week in your group chat. Because on WhatsApp, your personal messages are yours. No one else can see or hear them, not even us. WhatsApp message privately.
Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer – Episode Summary (June 23, 2025)
Released on June 23, 2025
Jim Cramer opens the episode by addressing recent geopolitical tensions, specifically focusing on Iran's missile attacks against U.S. military bases and the subsequent market reactions.
Iran's Missile Attack: Cramer discusses the unexpected nature of Iran's limited retaliation following the U.S. strike on its nuclear facilities. He highlights that while Iran possesses a substantial missile arsenal, their choice to fire conventional missiles instead of escalating further has had significant market implications.
"President Trump said Iran gave them advanced knowledge of the missile attack, which seems like a bit of a waste of their arsenal." [01:50]
Market Reaction: The stock market responded positively despite the missile attacks, with major indices like the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all posting gains. Oil prices, after an initial spike, fell sharply, reinforcing a bullish sentiment in the market.
"Dow advancing 375 points, S&P gaining 96 points, Nasdaq climbed 0.94%." [02:10]
Oil Prices: Cramer explains that the decline in oil prices indicates that the market does not anticipate significant escalation from Iran, suggesting stability in the energy sector.
"Oil is saying that this spike of the last few weeks is over." [02:45]
Cramer delves into investor behavior during periods of geopolitical uncertainty, using personal anecdotes to illustrate common pitfalls.
Investor Panic: He recounts a personal experience at a wedding in Napa, where attendees were fearful of the market's reaction to the missile attacks. Cramer emphasizes the importance of not succumbing to panic selling.
"You have to buy. Why? Why?" [04:00]
Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratios: Highlighting fundamental analysis, Cramer underscores that extraneous geopolitical events like missile strikes do not typically affect individual stock P/E ratios, reinforcing long-term investment strategies over short-term reactions.
"The P/E doesn't go down when there's something like a missile strike because individual stocks simply can't be related to an extraneous event like this." [05:30]
Cramer touches upon the Federal Reserve's outlook, noting that comments from key Fed members about potential rate cuts have further buoyed the market.
"Two key members of the Federal Reserve actually talked about how rate cuts could be in our future, possibly as soon as next month." [07:00]
A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to analyzing Darden Restaurants, the parent company of popular chains like Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse.
Strong Financial Performance: Darden reported a notable quarter with same-store sales up 4.6%, surpassing Wall Street's expectations of 3.5%. The company's strategic initiatives, including promotions and delivery expansions, have driven this growth.
"Darden's same store sales were up 4.6%. Wall Street was only looking for 3.5% and it was driven by tremendous strength." [12:14]
Buyback and Dividend Increase: The company announced a $1 billion stock buyback and a 7.1% dividend increase, enhancing shareholder value.
"They also raise their dividend by 7.1% to the point where now the stock sports a 2.7% yield." [14:00]
Management's Growth Strategies: CEO Rick Cardenas shared insights on pursuing franchising opportunities and strategic alternatives for underperforming restaurant chains, aiming to sustain long-term growth.
"As part of the five-year plan process, the company made the decision to pursue strategic alternatives for the Small Bomb and Breeze chain." [16:30]
Conclusion: Cramer views Darden Restaurants as a compelling investment opportunity, citing its resilient performance amidst economic uncertainties.
"With the stock selling for roughly 20 times this year's earnings estimates, supporting a 2.7% yield, not to mention that $1 billion buyback. I bet this one is a winner." [18:00]
Cramer brings in Rusty Brazil, founder and executive chairman of RBN Energy, to provide expert analysis on the current energy market dynamics influenced by geopolitical tensions.
Straits of Hormuz: Brazil explains the improbability of Iran closing the Straits of Hormuz, given that it would drastically affect their own oil exports.
"Iran has been talking about closing down the Straits of Hormuz for 20 years or more... it's pretty unlikely that that happens unless things get a lot more dire than they seem to be right now." [15:00]
Oil Market Stability: He elaborates on why oil prices have stabilized despite initial fears, indicating that the market has priced in the uncertainty and adjusted accordingly.
"Every single time there has been some sort of war, sable rattling, that sort of thing, as soon as the event happens, the price simply drops." [18:30]
Impact of U.S.-China Relations on Energy Exports: The discussion shifts to how U.S. policies affecting ethane exports to China could disrupt the energy market, impacting U.S. energy exporters.
"We've been advocating everything that we can in order to get this prohibition removed. And it's worse than that, Jim, because what's happening in the global markets is a lot of customers for U.S. exports are looking at what's happening to ethane and saying... you guys have basically taken ethane and make it a bargaining chip in this entire debate." [20:00]
Market Implications: Brazil warns that weaponizing ethane exports could damage the U.S.'s reputation as a reliable energy supplier, potentially leading to long-term market distrust.
"That means that the market is no longer looking at the U.S. Exporters of energy commodities as a trustworthy supplier. That's bad." [21:00]
Throughout the episode, Cramer engages with callers, providing insights and recommendations on various stocks.
Palantir Technologies: A caller inquires about the company's growth prospects. Cramer reveals his positive outlook, expecting the stock to rise further.
"Palantir at 50. I said it's going to 100. At 100, I said it's going to 210." [09:15]
Arlo Technologies: Cramer discusses Arlo Technologies, analyzing its strong subscription-based business despite competition in the home security market.
"Arlo Technologies has a real good story. Relatively cheap stock. But then again the thing has run up so rapidly that it might be due for a cooling off period." [33:30]
Visa Inc.: Addressing a caller's question, Cramer defends Visa's strong position and growth prospects against emerging financial technologies like cryptocurrencies and fintech startups.
"There have been many, many times in my career that people challenged Visa. Many times that people have sold Visa. Every time they are wrong and they will be wrong again." [32:30]
In a heartfelt segment, Cramer pays tribute to Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, highlighting his legacy and impact on the logistics industry.
Fred Smith's Legacy: Cramer recounts Smith's journey from a Marine Corps veteran to a visionary entrepreneur who revolutionized overnight mail delivery.
"Fred was a hero... Only then did he come back home to start his vision." [43:00]
Personal Reflections: Sharing personal anecdotes, Cramer emphasizes Smith's humility, dedication, and philanthropic efforts, painting a picture of a man who balanced business acumen with personal integrity.
"He created overnight mail... but he created, he executed, and now we all know it and use it." [44:20]
Impact on Business Practices: Cramer credits Smith with fostering innovation within FedEx, including the early adoption of robotics in logistics operations.
"He was at the forefront using robots to replace humans at the loading dock, because humans, he would tell you, were in short supply." [44:50]
Cramer's fast-paced lightning round featured rapid-fire recommendations and candid assessments of various stocks, demonstrating his characteristic enthusiasm and expertise.
Roblox: Cramer expresses confidence in Roblox's leadership and ethical standing, predicting continued upward momentum.
"Roblox goes higher. Dave Bouzucki... ethical product. People really like him." [41:07]
Lulu (Lululemon Athletica): Admitting a misstep, Cramer acknowledges his incorrect prediction about Lulu's stock performance and refrains from offering further commentary.
"I don't think I'm the call on Lulu. I did tell people that I thought it had bottomed and I was dead wrong." [41:22]
Oklo and Black Sky B: Cramer provides succinct opinions on nuclear energy stocks, emphasizing his strategic decisions based on market insights.
"I know OKLO really well. There'll be a time where I said, listen, don't touch it. But... nuclear is coming back." [40:34]
Conclusion:
In this episode, Jim Cramer navigates through complex geopolitical events, their impact on the financial markets, and provides actionable stock recommendations. From analyzing the limited retaliation by Iran and its market implications to spotlighting standout performers like Darden Restaurants and engaging in insightful discussions with energy expert Rusty Brazil, Cramer's comprehensive approach offers listeners valuable perspectives. The heartfelt tribute to Fred Smith underscores the blend of business acumen and personal integrity that defines sustainable success. Whether advising on high-growth tech stocks or acknowledging past forecasting errors, Cramer's candidness and expertise make this episode a valuable resource for investors navigating an ever-evolving market landscape.
Note: Timestamps are approximate and based on the provided transcript segments.