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Jim Cramer
Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Cray America. I'll be with my friends. I'm just trying to make a little money. My job is necessary to you, but to educate, to teach you. So call me @170CBC. Tweet me. Jim Kramer Park Exhaust me. I'm talking about my handy acronym for Palantir, Applovin, Robinhood and Coinbase. These are for the many stocks that seem to have no quit in them. Even if they all pull back hard into the close today, giving us a rare moment to evaluate them on relative weakness, it's better for me to talk about these stocks on a down day so you can get a discount if you're so inclined. These park names are emblematic of how stocks have devolved into a two track market. There's the S&P 500, and then there's this handful of stocks that retail investors have anointed and relentlessly take up without any real bounce. Today, with The Dow dipping 19 points, SB inching up 0.14% and the Nasdaq advancing point 3%, most of the park stocks ultimately took a breather. Not a beating, but a breather. But a fisher's in the guy. They'll bounce right back, probably tomorrow. Now, even though I say park, these four stocks are just representatives of what's been going on in this market. They're actually the best lot. They have earnings, they have analysts following them who come up with estimates. Although judging by the way people have been buying these names, neither of those things like estimates and analysts Seems to matter at all. Now you've got, oh hey, you've also got the nuclear power stories like Oklo, which sold off hard today, or the stocks that make for electric make better, like electric vehicles, like the back from the dead Quantumscape, which makes a new kind of battery. This captured the fancy of retail investors, although that wasn't enough to prevent the stock from plummeting over 14% today. Although even that decline, the stocks almost tripled over the past month, as have many of these stocks. These same people will buy anything quantum, anything rocket related, anything crypto, including spacs that buy crypto. Why these? Well, maybe the better question is, well, why not? If you're an individual investor, you don't have much information about how stocks work longer term. It's pretty easy to play this game, and it is a game. We know there are parlays in gambling where you have to pick two or more events and all have to be correct for you to win. The payouts can be big if your parlay hits, but if any bet loses, you lose the whole thing. These are pretty similar, except you tend to win all three. In many ways, gambling on park is a much fairer, better game, but it is a game nonetheless. This morning, Carl Quintanilla, of course, now we're talking about Squawk on the street, Asked if I believe in this kind of investing. Did I think it had a rigor? My answer was simple. It isn't investing. It's believing in something that may or may not come true. These stocks are taking place in what I call the year of magical thinking, which is a nod to one of my favorite writers, Joan Didion, Although she was trying to cope with the death of her fabulous husband. Rather than using this investment strategy. The buyers are irrational believers in these companies, not from grief, but from glee. I then talked about someone I met this weekend. Get this. Who bought Oklo, who truly did not know what the company did, other than like something to do with nuclear. And it went up a lot. True alcohol is involved with fission power. It can recycle waste as fuel. It might have a future. When the stock hit 30, I was adamant to people I'd be careful with it. But then when it went up another 10%, I threw in the towel. I said, hey, listen, it's a speculative stock. If you want to own it, go ahead. And it can be Oklahoma. It can be any part of the parks. It could be with strategy, the old microstrategy, or any of the spacs that are being created purely to buy crypto or it could be Rocket Lab to supplement the rocket fleet for satellites. Hey, how about Redetti Computing? It's a quantum copy quantum escape for faster electric cars, Joby Aviation, Flying cars, Circle Internet Group the red hot recent IPO that I'm not particularly fond of because it's a stablecoin play. And pretty soon because of that genius act, I think we'll be flooded with stablecoins. Now I don't care which one you pick as long as you don't flood the zone with him. But I no longer try to stop people because there's just too much money being made and I don't want to stand in the way of you making money. However, when you've got a big game, you do have to take something off the table. That's the only time the discipline really does pay. What are the signs that the year of magical thinking might be over? Maybe. Do you think today might end of it? I don't know. How do we return to rationale? Let me tell you what you need to see before this kind of thing goes away. I want you to know that we had a period like this in 1999 leading up to the dotcom crash. Things just kept going up and up and up. But the comparisons to the dot com crash do not hold up under close scrutiny. While flying cars and experimental batteries don't yet make money, park does lots of it. Oodles, Palantir, Applovin, Robin and Coinbase. They are all pretty darn profitable by comparison. During the dot com year, most of these red hot companies had little to no revenues and were actually running out of money, constantly tapping the public markets at the same time that insiders were furiously sell, sell sell sell sell their own stock because they knew there was no justification for these sky high valuations, they got out. Most of the dot coms were not ready for the prime time. This move, on the other hand, is unlike any I've ever seen, except for maybe 2014, which was filled with tech success fueled by the rise of the cloud. But it ended when insiders sold a huge amount of stock into a host of underwritings. The cloud stocks then fell under their own weight. That could happen if you were to contrast that with now. While we've seen some insider selling, we haven't been confronted with the avalanche of new offerings that usually stymie red hot stocks. Normally there'd be tons of new nuclear and quantum crypto IPOs to the point where the supply would only overwhelm demand. That has not happened yet, at least not yet now I'm reading a lot of stories about how these companies are way overvalued and have no business being this high. To which I say that means nothing to the buyers. Remember, we have two markets. There's the market that plays by the rules. And here I'm thinking about companies that report and go down because they are they don't meet expectations and think about like a Netflix or Market Express. More on them later. And then there's the second market, the red hots, which tend to get a pass either because there are no expectations or because the buyers don't want to be confined by something so pedestrian as the four walls of the spreadsheet. They think these estimates are for small thinkers. They think big. They don't want to be at Okta where the expectations are hard to beat. They want to be an OCLO where there are no expectations. Will they ever be tempted to go into a traditional stock? Only maybe a few tech stocks called the Magnificent Seven. But those are no longer so reasonable because they don't have to beat the expectations. I'm saying they have to be despicable. Give me some Alphabet's going to report this week right Itself was a big they have to meet the expectations, not beat them. I wonder if people will care who are part of this meme trade. There I called it, which is parc. With the exception of Nvidia, the Magnificent Seven are not exactly a part of the year of magical thinking. But when you see a digital galaxy or a quantum computing, just remember to play it as it lays. Here's the bottom line. Aside from the occasional pit stops like today, the park stocks just keep running. And until we see a wave of new IPOs creating a supply glut and a ton of insider selling, I wouldn't be surprised if they continue to rally. Let's go to Larry in New Jersey. Larry.
Larry
Hey Jim. Big booyah to you. Hope you have a great summer, Larry.
Jim Cramer
It's been a terrific summer. I'm just not. I haven't caught enough fish but in the garden like the sun. What's the problem here? How about you?
Larry
Good, good.
Jim Cramer
You can't.
Larry
Can't ask for better summers. Weather's been great.
Jim Cramer
Anyway.
Larry
Club member recent club member company I'm calling Voucher. Recent reported Earnings in June $5.6 CPS beat estimates 5.87 billion in revenue. Even guiding higher, albeit slightly lower margins, you know is for Photoshop and the standard for PDFs Adobe going from 4420 down to 3 60s now. What's your stake, buy, hold or sell.
Jim Cramer
Boy, Larry, I got to tell you, this is a tough one. One has been keeps going down. But two, Figma's about to come and you know, a lot of people have switched from Adobe to Figma because it's much cheaper. Let's let the Figment deal come and then see what happens. Might get this thing at a cheaper price. I want to go to Chris in New York. Chris.
Larry
Hey, Jim. This is Chris calling from Buffalo, New York.
Jim Cramer
Third time seller, the home of the bebouts. Yes, let's go to work.
Larry
I was looking at a stock last.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Week and then it got a real.
Larry
Bad downgrade right before the weekend. The stock is core weave.
Lorenzo Goncalves
What do you think about it?
Jim Cramer
I think I like Corey and I like Michael and Trader. But I would say the stock is $60 billion and it's going to have to come down and cool off a little bit. There are too many shorts in it. The shorts are covering right now. Once it once and finished covering, I think the stock does drop and you can take a look at it then. Let's go to Brian in Michigan. Brian, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Go ahead.
Larry
My question is I have a little Boeing that I bought and get more.
Jim Cramer
Boeing, get more Boeing. They report this week. I think it's going to be a terrific quarter. Let the stock come in. If it comes in down, let's say it comes to 220. Here's what you want to do. Pull the trigger. All right. These park stocks, well, they keep running. We got a little bit of a break today. That's why I wanted to do this piece. They don't care about the headwinds or fundamentals, the buyers. The only thing that could slow them down are maybe some new IPOs, maybe a lot of secondaries. Now on Mailbind tonight, American Express fell after earnings. So what gives? I'm digging the quarter and sharing. If this might be a viable dip, then Netflix, another stock that fell up to earnings, boasted that they had 95 billion hours that have been watched on this platform so far this year. So why wasn't that enough for Wall Street? Is anyone going to work? I'll give you my take. And Cleveland soared 12% today. So what should we make of this incredible comeback? I'm going straight to the source with the CEO. He doesn't really care for Chairman Powell. Stay with Kramer.
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Jim Cramer
There are some stocks that always seem to react negatively to their own earnings, even when the numbers are good. Stocks like American Express, which will likely sell software. Really every quarter. Sell, sell, sell something I warned you about a week and a half ago, I wanted you don't want to in and out. But I knew that this could happen. And sure enough, when Amex reported last Friday morning, the company delivered a strong quarter and the Stock still tumbled $7 or 2.3% before slipping another 1.6% today. My gladness says that this will once again prove to be a good buying opportunity. But my brain says we need to do the homework and make sure the stock's still worth owning first. Let me walk you through the numbers. Got to start always with the numbers. American Express reported 7% bill business growth. That's total card members spending. That was a little better than expected. Total revenues net of interest expense grew 9% year over year, also better than expected. And the company earned $4.08 per share. Wall street was only looking for $3.89. That's 17% earnings growth. So far, so good. So that leads us to an obvious question. Why the heck did the stock sell off? Aside from the fact that it always seems to sell off in response to earnings? Well, there are a couple of culprits. First, despite the big beats for the quarter market, Express only reiterated full year forecast which calls for 8 to 10% revenue growth and earnings per share of 15 to 1550. That's up 12 to 16% from last year. It was not just a beat, not a beat and a raise. And that was the problem. Second, right at the beginning of the prepared remarks, CEO Steve Square you noted that there had been softer spending in some travel categories, including airlines and lodging. Given that these are some of the biggest categories, I think the commentary might have spooked some people. But let's address these issues one at a time because this is actually not it's kind of a typical call. First, I'm not too torn about the fact that this was merely a beat and not a beat. And raise quarter base estimates later in the year. Market specialists guidance beginning of the year and there's tracking to hit the numbers. The company's revenue guidance implies steady growth in the back half of the year and in uncertain times like this, I'm not going to complain about steady growth. As for the earnings aside, management always talking about mid teens earnings growth and that's exactly what they plan to deliver. This is the game plan. How about the second issue, the softness in certain travel categories? Not great. But you know what? In the very same sentence Steve Square is the CEO said the total card member spending was up 7% to record levels. Now I'm old enough to remember a few months ago when investors were worried about a huge pullback in consumer spending thanks to all the tariff uncertainty. These results indicate that the total consumer spending didn't really come down much at all. And that's the positive surprise. Later in the call, in response to an analyst question, Square gave some more detail and explained that in the categories that matter most to Amex, premium seating for airlines, luxury hotels, younger consumer spending all the time. Consistent. So with these main concerns about the quarter address, let me tell you the three big things that I liked about the quarter. First, I remain impressed by how American Express is doing on the credit quality front. Like many of the banks that reported, the company's total provision for credit losses was solidly lower than expected. That's great. Amex's reserves as a percentage of total loans and card member receivables remained at 2.9%, a healthy level where it's been for the past four quarters. Meanwhile, Amazon Amex's delinquency rate remains at a very low 1.3% and the company's net write off rate has come down a touch both year over year and sequentially. Overall marks Best boasts liquidity rates that are far lower than the industry average, especially with its younger consumers. For its millennials and Gen Z cardholders, for example, AMEX has a 1.9% lose rate. Do you know what the industry is? 4.4%. This is American Express. They know how to filter out the. Well, I guess some people call them deadbeats. I call them challenge. Speaking of young people, they're spending like crazy on the American Express course. They break the US consumer spending down by generation. And Gen Z spending was up 90. I'm sorry, was up 39% year over year. Gen Z, they're well, whatever. And millennials are up 10%, 3 percentage points better than total build business number. Gen Z is still a small piece of the pie at 5% of the total US consumer bill business. But millennials now account for 30%, slightly more than the baby boomer plus generation which accounts for 29%. So when you're looking, when you're looking at, you're trying to game the long term business here, the health, with the success of young consumers. I think that's incredibly important. And this company has figured out because you want to know what's the long term, some of these, some of these guys are going to max out when the baby boomers are gone. Still, why is the mercury spreads doing so well with younger people in particular. That leads me to the last thing that I really liked about amex's report last Friday, which is the way CEO Steve Squeary talked about some of the competitive dynamics of the credit card space. He explained that his company is winning because it offers the best value proposition, even if that's with a fee based product. See, there have been some concerns about an increasingly competitive credit card market, especially on the high end of the big push recently. JP Morgan up its game credit cards a new challenge by an emboldened city and of course the capital and Discover merger creating a more formal plan player. The latter by the way reports tomorrow. It's a big position for the child trust. Who knows what's going to say. But amex continues to do very well with attracting new cardholders, adding 3.1 million new cards in the quarter. 63% of these new accounts were Millennials or gen Z consumers. 71% were added with fee paying products, which is one of the reasons American Express card fee revenues grew 20% year over year in the second quarter, same as the first quarter. It's incredible these guys can still convince people to pay for a credit card when there's so many free options. Yet Amazon card fee revenue has put up a 17% compound annual growth rate since mid 2020. Mid mid 2019. My wife loves the points. I never see him. When asked about the competitive credit environment, Steve Square for the card, Steve Squiggy explained that American Express has always operated competitive environment and they pretty much always win because they offer consumers the most value even if there's a fee involved. These guys offer hands down the best rewards for their cardholders. So here's the bottom line. Once again, Mercury sold off in response. So it looked like a good quarter and just as predicted, my gut instinct says, you know what? This was what we said all the time. We said it would go down. We call it a buying opportunity. We waited till today and history says that tomorrow's the day to buy. After looking through the quarter, I am now confident my gut instinct was right by the diploma for American Express. Tomorrow we have money. Back into the break.
Dell Representative
Coming up. Are you still watching this stock? Kramer's pressing play and looking at Netflix, seeing if the streaming giant can keep its momentum going next.
Jim Cramer
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Jim Cramer
Every earnings season we see a slew of high quality stocks that rally going into earnings. Then, even if they report better than expected numbers, there's still a pullback. This is something we've seen repeatedly this earnings season. Tonight I want to focus on another high profile dip that we saw last week that really was pretty upsetting to a lot of people, and that's Netflix coming to the quarter. Netflix had been on fire, up a whopping 43% year to date. I read a segment defending a stock when it pulled back from its highs in April. After that it rallied 29% for the company reported last week. But then after the numbers came out on Thursday night, Netflix's stock tumbled 5% the next day before erasing some of that loss today. But not all of it. Sell, sell, sell. I think this is just like April Franklin. Once again you're giving a chance to buy a terrific stock at a discount. Just look at the quarter Netflix reported. Starting from the top, the company grew revenues by 16%, slightly ahead of expectations. Management said the revenue growth was primarily driven by more member higher, higher subscription pricing and increased ad revenue. I mean, what's not to like about that? Even better, you've got higher than expected operating margins, which helped translate into 11 cent earnings beat off a 7 away basis. That's not a huge beat, but it's certainly not bad. $7.08 now Netflix has several blockbuster content releases fueling its performance. The second quarter content slate was headlined by the third season of Squid Game, which racked up 122 million million views. But they had other a bunch of other programs that racked up 50 to 60 billion views and the new Tyler Perry movie did 109 million views. In the letter, shareholders management noted that membership growth came in ahead of their own expectations. And because of these great results, Netflix was able to raise their full year revenue outlook by $1 billion at the midpoint management also gave great guidance for the current quarter. So why on earth did this stock plunge 5% on Friday? Now part of it comes down to great expectations, Mrs. Habersham, with the stock up 43% for the year going into the print something Sometimes even a beaten race quarter just isn't enough. But part of it relates to some legitimate worries about engagement. Netflix said its users have watched 95 billion hours of content this year, yet that was actually a disappointment to some investors, up just 1% year over year. That was asked about multiple of times. That gives gave the Bears enough ammo to argue that future growth for the streaming giant could indeed be slowing. Okay, I think that short sight Nevis's content slate for 2025 is heavily weighted to the second half of the year. This, combined with membership growth picking up late in the second quarter thanks to the new season of Squid Game sets the stage for a strong second half that includes a bunch of new new seasons for popular shows. And by the way, here's one that everyone in the office is buzzing about. Adam Sandler's widely anticipated Happy Gilmore too. I liked Happy Gilmore 1. One of the greatest cash grabs of all time. Hey, it might even be good. All right, I'm looking forward to the documentary about Jerry Jones. We featured him on Mad Money is the owner of the Cowboys, which comes out next month. And don't forget about season nine, Love is Blind. Or how about this, the new documentary with Victoria Beckham aka posh place for those who were around the 90s. Ancient history. On top of everything else, Netflix keeps leaning into live content, especially sports. They got a bunch of big boxing matches this quarter like Taylor versus Serrano rematch, and then the much anticipated Canelo versus Crawford fight on September 13th. Look out a little further. Get this, they got NFL double header for Christmas Day featuring the Dallas Cowboys against the Washington Commanders. That could be a good game, but the best game is going to be this Detroit Lions against the Vikings. The Vikings are much improved, two divisional matchups that are sure to get people watching. Plus, just this week, Netflix scored 120 Primetime Emmy nominations across 44 titles, underscoring its creative dominance. Matt also pointed out during the last quarter's conference call that no single title accounts for more than 1% of total viewing. This speaks to the breadth of Netflix's offerings. Even if you haven't heard of some of these shows, millions of others have. At the same time, Netflix is seeing great success with their local for local content strategy, developing shows and films in four foreign languages to connect with audiences in those countries this past quarter they have some big international hits. Extra Territorial It's Ex Territorial from Germany which became the fourth most popular non English film after 89 Million Views. In fact, not English series and films made up more than a third of Netflix's viewings in the first half of the year. You ever heard of titles? People now magnus increasing their investment overseas in places like Spain where they're doing really really well. Netflix will be pouring over a billion euros into Spain between 2025 and 2028. This is in addition to the partnership with TF1, a leading broadcaster in France. Of course, the company still investing heavily United States as America still makes up the majority of their content spending. Management estimates the Netflix has contributed $125 billion to the US economy from 2020 to 2024 and they're planning to continue these investments with an expansion in Albuquerque, New Mexico along with one roughly $1 billion going to production facility in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Meanwhile, their ad business is scaling rapidly. Netflix Ad Suite, the proprietary first party ad tech platform has rolled out globally and management expects ad revenues to roughly double this year. Double. They're also optimistic that the redesigned TV homepage will give subscribers better recommendations for making it easier for them to find the shows. Right now I really don't like it they're looking for with a boosting long term engagement. Thank you. Management even had some positive commentary on the future of AI for their industry, noting that they believe, quote, AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper, end quote. That said, I'm sure cheaper is kind of a big plus for some of their hit shows in Argentina. The Internet, that's ET and A ut. The production team leveraged AI powered tools to generate a scene where a building collapsed in Buenos Aires. Matters said this sequence was completed 10 times faster than it would have been without these tools and in terms of cost, they simply didn't have the budget to do it without AI. The sequence was actually the very first generative AI final footage to appear in a screen in a Netflix original series or film, which really showcases the power that these tools give the smaller creators. The bottom line never sold off after the the quarter because the stock came in too hot and the conference call only made me feel more confident about the future of the business. So did by the way, the Q and A. I think you're getting a chance to own the best of breed streaming platform at a discount. Please read both the shareholder letter and the Q and A to be sure you don't make a mistake. Let's go to Jerry in Missouri. Jerry and he.
Larry
Jim, thanks for taking my call.
Jim Cramer
Of course. Chair. What's up?
Larry
They call themselves the front page of the Internet and they are trying to fight AI with AI. Do you think that when they report in two weeks that Reddit will beat on the top and bottom line?
Jim Cramer
Yes, I do. Absolutely. I think Reddit, last time it ran it went up too much. It was way too hot. I don't know why that happened. I think that Reddit's going to have a really good quarter. I was shocked to see how much there was a big short position but now I think Red is to prepared. Steve Hoffman's really terrific looking at Netflix's results in the commerce school. I think this pullback in the stock is a chance to actually buy a best of breed streaming platform at a discount. Much more made money including my. I'd say it's probably going to be explosive. Interview with Cleveland Cliffs. Ever since President Trump doubled the tariff on steel imports, Cleveland Cliff stock hasn't looked back. I'm learning more about the current state of steel with the CEO then we don't talk that much about the impact of analyst price drop targets, but we should. I'm sharing why this so important. Of course oil calls rapid fire in tonight's edition of the Lightning Round. So stay with Kramer. All right, what do we make of this incredible comeback in Cleveland Cliff stock? Today, the vertically integrated steel maker focused on value added steel products, particularly for the auto industry. This stock plunged from the low twenties early last year down to five bucks and change this past May when President Trump approved and you know I'm against this, the Nippon Steel acquisition of US Steel, which Cleveland Cliffs also wanted to buy. But shortly after the deal was approved, Cliff got a gift from the administration. The president doubled the tariff on steel imports from 25% to 50%. In response, the stock jumped 23% in a single session and it's never looked back because, well, the president may have saved the industry and exploded higher once again today up more than 12% when Cleveland Cliffs reported a better than expected quarter. There's a sense that business will only get better as we process the higher steel towers. So can this thing keep running? Let's check in with Lorenzo Goncalves. He is the chairman, president, CEO of Cleveland. Find out more Michigan solves. Welcome back to Mayor Money.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Thank you very much for having me, Jen.
Jim Cramer
Always a pleasure. All right, first of all, congratulations. I know that this quarter really wasn't aided as much by tariffs as it was, just because you have good market power, you're in the right place. So tell us about what, what's happening at the firm, even without the tariffs, because it seems to be better than it was the last time I spoke to you.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Yes, it was. And you're right. And I'm not sure about market power because the market, the power of the market with the consumer. And that's a very open market, as you know, and we have competitors everywhere, but we are able to compete. That's the most important thing, as long as we take care of the assets that can perform. And I took care of that last quarter. And it's a painful thing, but we shut down two plants in Pennsylvania. It's a place that really doesn't support Cleveland Cliffs. They elected to go in a different direction. Good for them. It's fine with me. And one in Illinois. These were assets that are underperforming, basically due to the pressure on imports. And importance still distorts the market. You know that. Well, we got tired of fighting, fight that we can't win. The assets we have now, they are all performing, they are all good to go. And they are focused on markets that President Trump is really working to make sure that they are the foundation of the new birth of industrialization in the United States of America. Automotive and the electrical issues did say.
Jim Cramer
That there's a chance that some of those facilities contracted by JP Morgan could be sold be excellent data centers.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Yeah, because we have a lot of power, electrical power available, utilities in general, water. That's what actually data centers need, the availability of plenty of power and plenty of water. So we have both. And the location is very good for that. So we are not going to get ahead of ourselves, but we are receiving a lot of unsolicited inbound calls regarding those.
Jim Cramer
That's good. Now, do you think that people understand in this country that we've been a dumping ground for steel for years and that's how we lost all our companies other than you and Nucor.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Look, it's about time to understand and I believe that in my lifetime I have never seen so much awareness about steel. Take what happened Steelton, that was one of the three mills producing rail in this country. And the clients elected to import rail. And I tried. When the tariffs were at 25%, I tried to replace imports with rail made in Pennsylvania. But at that point they had already cut deals to have the foreign mules supplying the rail through the tariffs. So that's an uphill battle we can't win because if they can do it at 25%, they will do it at 50%. And as soon as tariffs move a little bit, they will be back. So we have to work for the long term. President Trump is creating the foundation for a rebirth of manufacturing, particularly automotive in this country. We have eight finishing facilities ready to go. We are ready for the surge that they're going to have in automotive. And that's right now. Not in two years, not in three years, not in five years. It's right now.
Jim Cramer
So what happens to all the plants that were built in Mexico thinking that that's what our government wanted? Because I have a lot of stuff in Mexico. Candidly, I'm right next to a plant and I know that it was there because it was very inexpensive labor and not that good, frankly, environmental protection, unlike what you have to do. And it would be rather amazing if those plants suddenly closed.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Jim, the biggest problem is not even the plant being in Mexico. The biggest problem is the fact that the plants in Mexico that are supposed to be part of USMCA entity and consume steel producing side the USMCA in Mexico or in the United States or in Canada started consuming steel coming from foreign countries like Japan, like South Korea, like China, like Germany. So it became a dumping ground. And Mexico at that point was believing that they had a license to kill a jail free card just because they were part of the usmca. So the plants in Mexico, as long as they buy steel from the United States, we can work with them. But what can't we can't afford is to allow the plants in Mexico to use steel from let's call China or South Korea.
Jim Cramer
Well, it's transship. It's definitely transshipment. You know, I believe that. I think it's ridiculous. Let's speak about the stock for a second. Had a very big move today. You do have some leverage targets. I know you mentioned at one point that you might even be open to foreign investment. Now who would actually pass the the test of a foreign investor? Because I would think that a foreign investor may be part of a problem, not part of the solution.
Lorenzo Goncalves
That's to be seen. That should be seen. Like I said, we're receiving a lot of inbound inquiries, unsolicited inquiries, and we are discussing with people that are talking to us. It's too early to tell, but I believe that some are real and some are really acceptable as real partners. When I say partner, I'm talking partner. I'm not talking a partnership, that's actually a sale. I'm talking about a Real partnership in specific businesses, niches, things like that.
Jim Cramer
Okay, now, you were quite, quite critical of, of Chairman Powell. And I wonder how much he. You think he really may be at fault here in terms of the inability to get the country, the part of the country that you need to do better to get rolling.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Let's face it, at this point, people are not buying houses anymore because mortgages are unaffordable. And I don't want this thing to start contaminating the automotive market at a moment that automotive is going to be producing more and more cars in the United States. The consumer must be able to buy. We can't afford having interest rates so high, artificially high. For a Fed that is really with an agenda. There's only three powers in this country, the judiciary, the legislative and executive. The Fed is not a separate power. And Jay Powell believes that he is playing a counter to Donald Trump. And that's totally absurd. It has nothing to do with the pennies independence of the Fed.
Jim Cramer
You really think that that's his goal? I mean, don't you think he's just trying to fight inflation? He's a very good man. And it's tough for me to hear that. Look, I respect you entirely, but I have to respect both the office and JPEG Powell. And I think he's just trying to make it so the American working person, including the people who work for your company, aren't overrun by inflation.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Yeah, he keeps repeating the same mantra, data driven these and that. But at the end of the day, he's not even questioning the quality of the data or the type of the data. Let's talk about the employment. Employment at a low percentage. But a big portion of our workforce is now driving for, for Uber or Doordash or things like that. That's not real employment. That's just a travesty of employment. These things are not reflecting the data. So I'm not questioning if he's a good guy or not a good guy. What I'm saying is he's a bad Fed chairman.
Jim Cramer
He needs to go, oh, wow, all right, well, look, you know, look, I don't want to leave it on that note. I would rather just leave it on a note of what you think you could do with a little less leverage. And what kind of earnings power do you think you might have now? The tariffs are in, and let's say the president is able to stop the transshipment from Mexico and from Canada. By the way, what do you think the earnings power you have in Cleveland Cliffs?
Lorenzo Goncalves
The biggest earning. Earnings Power that I have is the ability to make happen what President Trump is trying to bring to this country. He's trying to bring industrialization back to the country. And the main driver for that would be the automotive industry. The more we produce cars in the United States, the more you'll be able to produce steel because you supply them with higher production. We dilute our fixed costs, our costs go down, our margins increase. And that's where my earnings power is. It's just pure common sense. We lost, Jim, in the last five years, more than million cars produced in this country.
Jim Cramer
I know.
Lorenzo Goncalves
That's totally, totally.
Jim Cramer
I agree. I mean, they assemble them here, but they don't really make them here. Anyway. Lorenzo Gonzalez is the chairman, president, CEO of Cleveland Cliffs. And it was a great quarter, sir. And that's what really matters. Okay.
Lorenzo Goncalves
I really appreciate the opportunity to be with you. Thank you very much.
Jim Cramer
Of course. Thank you. Mad money's back. Get from the break.
Dell Representative
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. It's time for the White room. Just glitter the course. I'm a step. But you played us out. And then the lightning round is over. Are you ready, Ski? Dad. Jo, I'm going to start with Michael in Tennessee. Michael.
Larry
Booyah from Clarksville.
Jim Cramer
Booyah, Michael.
Larry
I've got three infrastructure stocks. Two of them have done really well. The third one, I'm still waiting. What do you think of GVA Granite construction?
Jim Cramer
I've always felt that GBA was a takeover target. And by the way, it's up 7%. That's nothing to do. Yeah, that's nothing to sneeze on. I do believe, just so you know, that I think that the infrastructure play is still on and therefore granite is still on. All right, now we're gonna go to Ryan in Wisconsin. Ryan.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Hey.
Larry
Jim Boulyack. And plus Prairie, Wisconsin.
Jim Cramer
Nice. What's up?
Larry
Oh, nothing much. Hey, I am calling about a company you talked about. I think you actually brought on the CEO a while back. The news around them has been recently fairly positive. And it looks like there's some momentum I want to get your opinion on solid power.
Jim Cramer
Momentum. The stock's up 100%. That's big momentum, but it's up 100%. The nurse. Know what? I think you got to do what I call a schnitzel. Take a little off the table, because that thing has just been a horse.
WhatsApp Representative
All aboard.
Jim Cramer
Let's go to Todd in Texas. Todd.
Schwab Representative
Hello, Jim.
Larry
How are you?
Jim Cramer
I am fine. How are you?
Larry
I'm pretty good. Elon Musk has called lithium the new oil. And I want to get your thoughts on envX.
Jim Cramer
And we have a glut of oil. I'm worried about that. ENVX is another stock that's just up way too much. I mean, we got to find some stocks that are not up like. Like a straight shooter. Because what happens. These are what I call parabolic buys. And if you buy a Powerball stock, what happens is it goes parabolic down. So therefore we're not going to buy that stock. Let's go to James in Minnesota. James.
Larry
Hey, Jim. With recent CPG sector deals. Look, Ferreira's acquisition of W.K. kellogg, Kap Heinz. Potential breakup. How should investors view General Mill stock?
Jim Cramer
Well, the good news about General mills got a 5% yield. The bad news is that unless they didn't do a Pepsi did. See, when I was on the Pepsi call listening to with Raymond McUarter, he has managed to be able to somehow deal with the GOP dash ones. General Mills has not been able to deal with them. So I've got to tell you, I'm on the camp, which says you, you can buy it because of the dividend, but not because of the earnings. That's a tough one. That makes it like a bond. Hey, why don't we go to Doug another in Tennessee. Doug.
Larry
Boya, ski daddy.
Jim Cramer
Man, you've got your day job all set. What's happening?
Larry
I've been a club member for over a year and it's more than paid for itself.
Jim Cramer
So I wanted to say yes. Yes. We have doubters right there. I'm looking some of my doubters. They're not even paying attention to the show.
Lorenzo Goncalves
Wow.
Jim Cramer
They really aren't. All right, let's go.
Larry
My son is 10 and he's just starting to get into stocks. And he's been watching you. And he wanted me to call in and ask if he should buy Starbucks now or wait.
Jim Cramer
Your kid's got horse sense. I would tell him to buy some now. The stock was down. That is the way to go. I like that. That's the best stock in the whole darn lightning round. And that including other lightning round.
Dell Representative
The lightning round is sponsored by Charles Schwab. Coming up, a new week, a new price target. Kramer's laying out why we've seen an uptick in recent price target changes. What it means for your portfolio.
Jim Cramer
Next. We don't talk all that much about the impact of analyst price targets, but we should explain a lot about why so many stocks keep levitating almost aggressively? First, price targets matter. They give a broker or trader a reason to call a customer. Broker's job is to convey whatever she can about a company. And a price target is something that needs to be conveyed. A trader may say, listen, I got 500,000 of the stock in question if you want to buy some. These analyst pushes can get stocks going because the process of contacting clients gives the stock in question a legitimate reason to run. Anything that can persuade big institutional investors can move a stock. And a price target boost definitely falls into that category. Now, how do I know this? I know this because I've been on both sides of these phone calls. First in the broker side, then the money manager side at my old hedge fund. Maybe you think these price target adjustments should matter, but they do do. Often analysts simply get caught on the wrong side of the trade too. For example, Barclays seems to have bought into a theory that we're heading to recession or something, or at least a capital spending drought that hasn't played out. So today they raised a whole bunch of price targets in the capital goods sector. But they raised them to well below where the stocks are already trading. They took caterpillar stock, for instance, 335 to 383 is it for 10 United Reynolds, 565 to 620 stocks is 778. The firm even had a sell on that one. These those are just plain wrong. And they still need stock to come down a lot. A huge number of industrials has similar action and made buyers who missed them on the way up commit to buying some. Today we see the same thing with tech, where analysts are playing catch up with Texas Instruments. The negativity in tech has been so pervasive that it's haunting researchers everywhere. But now, when they raise the price targets, stocks do go higher. Now it's entirely possible that people were short stocks going into this morning. That same mindset pervaded the hedge funds, which are slaves to the yield curve. And the yield curve was giving off real sell vibes. Plus the liberation day tariffs are supposed to be downright about apocalyptic. For the industrials, they look like the easiest short positions the world fish in a barrel. Then when the presidency later reduced many tariffs, those short sellers got washed away. In the end though, a lot of money managers simply failed to realize that the amount of money being pumped into the system by the big beautiful budget will trigger huge buying. The short sellers were too worried about the deficit to read the fine print, which is filled with reasons to buy those stocks. Plus, over the years, these industrials have bought back so many shares that the float is very small. Therefore, it's imperative for the trading desk to get some stock simply simply to be able to have something to meet the orders that might come come in when when the brokers make these calls, they do so by shorting the stock to customers and then battling it to contain the short. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can. It's another reason a stock runs. So when you see what looks like a totally irrelevant price target moved up by a little, you should presume this the analyst has people maybe short, the street is very skeptical and the short sellers will run over by the bulls. And that's the process of how to make money in 2025. Like I said, as always, Bill Mark Summer I promise event just for you right here at Man Money, I'm Jim Cramer. See you tomorrow.
WhatsApp Representative
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 strateg, 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 trading@schwab is now.
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Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer – Episode Summary (July 21, 2025)
Published on July 21, 2025
Introduction
In the latest episode of Mad Money hosted by Jim Cramer, aired on July 21, 2025, Cramer delves deep into the current state of the stock market, highlighting key trends, analyzing earnings reports, and engaging with live callers. This episode focuses on the dichotomy between mainstream market indices and a select group of high-profile stocks, dubbed the "Park" stocks, alongside detailed discussions on American Express, Netflix, and Cleveland Cliffs. The episode concludes with a dynamic Lightning Round, where Cramer offers rapid-fire stock opinions.
The "Park" Stocks Phenomenon
Cramer begins by addressing the prevalent trend among retail investors favoring a specific group of high-visibility stocks, which he collectively refers to using his acronym PARK: Palantir, Applovin, Robinhood, and Coinbase.
"These park names are emblematic of how stocks have devolved into a two-track market. There's the S&P 500, and then there's this handful of stocks that retail investors have anointed and relentlessly take up without any real bounce." [01:24]
He observes that despite recent pullbacks, these stocks maintain strong interest from investors, often ignoring fundamental concerns like earnings estimates and analyst ratings. Cramer likens investing in PARK stocks to gambling, emphasizing the speculative nature and inherent risks involved.
"Gambling on PARK is a much fairer, better game, but it is a game nonetheless." [07:45]
Cramer contrasts the current scenario with the dot-com bubble, noting that unlike many tech companies before the crash, the PARK stocks are generating profits and have solid earnings, reducing the immediate risk of a similar market downturn.
Audience Calls and Stock Recommendations
Throughout the episode, Cramer engages with live callers seeking advice on various stocks. Key discussions include:
Voucher (Adobe)
"Might get this thing at a cheaper price. I want to go to Chris in New York." [08:37]
Core Weave
"I think I like Corey and I like Michael and Trader. But I would say the stock is $60 billion and it's going to have to come down and cool off a little bit." [09:43]
Boeing
"If it comes in down, let's say it comes to 220. Here's what you want to do. Pull the trigger." [10:12]
In-Depth Analysis of American Express Earnings
Cramer provides a thorough analysis of American Express's recent earnings report, highlighting both strengths and concerns that led to the stock's decline despite positive financial metrics.
"American Express reported 7% bill business growth. That's total card members spending. That was a little better than expected." [14:14]
Key Points:
Revenue and Earnings:
American Express beat revenue and earnings estimates, with a 9% year-over-year revenue growth and earnings per share at $4.08 compared to the expected $3.89.
Guidance Concerns:
Despite strong quarterly performance, the company only reiterated its full-year forecast without an upgrade, causing investor uncertainty.
Consumer Spending Insights:
CEO Steve Squeri highlighted steady spending among premium consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, which reassures long-term growth prospects.
Credit Quality:
The company's focus on credit quality remains robust, with a delinquency rate of 1.3%, significantly lower than the industry average.
Cramer concludes that the stock's sell-off presents a buying opportunity, reiterating his confidence in American Express's long-term viability.
"Once again, this looks like a good quarter and just as predicted, my gut instinct says this was what we said all the time... a buying opportunity." [19:50]
Comprehensive Review of Netflix's Performance
In his discussion on Netflix, Cramer examines the company's recent earnings report, audience engagement metrics, and future content strategies.
"Netflix grew revenues by 16%, slightly ahead of expectations. Management said the revenue growth was primarily driven by more member higher subscription pricing and increased ad revenue." [22:08]
Highlights:
Revenue and Earnings:
Netflix surpassed revenue projections with a 16% increase and reported an 11 cent earnings per share, exceeding expectations.
Content Performance:
Successful releases like "Squid Game" Season 3 and Tyler Perry's new movie contributed significantly to viewership, showcasing Netflix's strong content portfolio.
Membership Growth:
Membership numbers exceeded internal forecasts, and the company raised its full-year revenue outlook by $1 billion.
International Expansion:
Emphasizing local content, Netflix invested heavily in international markets, including a substantial push in Spain and partnerships in France, enhancing global appeal.
Ad Revenue Growth:
The introduction of Netflix Ad Suite has accelerated ad revenues, which are expected to double within the year.
Despite robust performance indicators, the stock experienced a 5% dip post-earnings due to high market expectations and concerns over user engagement growth.
"But part of it relates to some legitimate worries about engagement. Netflix said its users have watched 95 billion hours of content this year, yet that was actually a disappointment to some investors, up just 1% year over year." [22:40]
Cramer remains optimistic, viewing the dip as a buying opportunity based on Netflix's long-term growth strategies and expanding content library.
"This pullback in the stock is a chance to actually buy a best of breed streaming platform at a discount." [28:47]
Interview with Cleveland Cliffs' CEO, Lorenzo Goncalves
Cramer conducts an in-depth interview with Lorenzo Goncalves, Chairman, President, and CEO of Cleveland Cliffs, discussing the company's performance, market dynamics, and future outlook.
"Ever since President Trump doubled the tariff on steel imports, Cleveland Cliffs stock hasn't looked back." [28:47]
Key Discussion Points:
Operational Efficiency:
Goncalves highlights the strategic shutdown of underperforming plants in Pennsylvania and Illinois to optimize operations and focus on profitable assets.
Market Positioning:
The company is well-positioned to benefit from increased domestic demand in the automotive and electrical sectors, driven by recent policy changes favoring US manufacturing.
Data Centers Opportunity:
With excess capacity in power and water, Cleveland Cliffs is exploring opportunities in data center construction, leveraging their infrastructure strengths.
Trade Policy Impact:
Goncalves criticizes Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, attributing economic challenges to high interest rates and policy missteps, which he believes hinder consumer spending and industrial growth.
"The Fed is not a separate power... Jay Powell believes that he is playing a counter to Donald Trump. And that's totally absurd." [37:11]
Future Earnings Power:
Emphasizing the direct correlation between increased domestic car production and steel demand, Goncalves forecasts strong earnings growth as the US rejuvenates its manufacturing base.
"The more we produce cars in the United States, the more you'll be able to produce steel because you supply them with higher production. We dilute our fixed costs, our costs go down, our margins increase." [39:25]
Cramer lauds Goncalves for the company's strategic direction and robust performance, reinforcing the bullish outlook on Cleveland Cliffs.
"Lorenzo Gonzalez is the chairman, president, CEO of Cleveland Cliffs. It was a great quarter, sir. And that's what really matters." [40:07]
Lightning Round: Rapid-Fire Stock Opinions
In the concluding segment, Cramer participates in the Lightning Round, providing swift buy, hold, or sell opinions on various stocks based on callers' inquiries.
Granite Construction (GVA):
"I think that I think that the infrastructure play is still on and therefore granite is still on." [41:20]
Solid Power:
"Take a little off the table, because that thing has just been a horse." [42:03]
ENVX:
"These are what I call parabolic buys. And if you buy a Powerball stock, what happens is it goes parabolic down." [42:35]
General Mills:
"I think you can buy it because of the dividend, but not because of the earnings." [43:06]
Starbucks:
"Buy some now. The stock was down. That is the way to go." [43:55]
Analyst Price Targets and Market Dynamics
Before concluding, Cramer shifts focus to the influence of analyst price targets on stock movements. He explains how these targets can drive broker-client interactions, often resulting in stock rallies irrespective of fundamental valuations.
"Anything that can persuade big institutional investors can move a stock. And a price target boost definitely falls into that category." [44:37]
Insights:
Influence on Trading:
Price target adjustments by analysts can incentivize brokers to promote certain stocks, leading to increased buying activity.
Discrepancies and Overreactions:
Cramer highlights cases where price targets are raised despite existing overvaluations, as seen with Caterpillar and United Reynolds, suggesting that such moves may not always align with the stock's intrinsic value.
Sector-Specific Trends:
Positive outlooks in the capital goods and tech sectors have led to significant stock hikes, driven partly by short sellers covering their positions.
"When you see what looks like a totally irrelevant price target moved up by a little, you should presume this the analyst has people maybe short." [44:37]
Cramer emphasizes the necessity for investors to critically assess price target changes and understand the underlying motivations before making investment decisions.
Conclusion
Jim Cramer's July 21, 2025 episode of Mad Money offers a comprehensive overview of current market trends, emphasizing the speculative nature of PARK stocks, dissecting earnings reports of major companies like American Express and Netflix, and providing actionable insights through live caller interactions and rapid-fire stock evaluations. Cramer's analysis underscores the importance of fundamental evaluation amidst market exuberance and highlights the intricate dynamics between analyst opinions and stock performance. Investors are encouraged to approach high-momentum stocks with caution, recognize genuine buying opportunities, and remain vigilant against speculative risks inherent in the current market landscape.
Note: All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal, or their affiliates. Investors should perform their own due diligence before making any investment decisions.