Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 7/30/25

Summary

Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer – Episode Summary (July 30, 2025)

Host: Jim Cramer
Podcast: Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer
Release Date: July 30, 2025
Duration: Approximately 46 minutes

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1. Market Overview

Jim Cramer opens the episode with a critical assessment of the current market dynamics post-Federal Reserve meeting. He expresses skepticism about the market's morale, attributing mixed performances to the Fed's decision to maintain steady interest rates despite pressure for cuts.

Jim Cramer [01:43]: "The market has officially lost its mojo."

Cramer highlights the divergent performances across major indices, noting that while the Dow lost 172 points and the S&P 500 shed 0.12%, the Nasdaq gained 0.15%. He criticizes a segment of investors for expecting surprise rate cuts from the Fed and reacting negatively when they don't materialize.

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2. Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rates. Cramer critiques Fed Chair Jay Powell for not signaling imminent rate cuts, which he believes could have bolstered the broader market.

Jim Cramer [02:30]: "Why didn't they? Other than televisions, I can't find anything that's retreated in price."

He delves into Powell’s cautious approach, emphasizing the strong GDP growth, robust labor market, and persistent housing market weaknesses. Cramer argues that the Fed's reluctance to cut rates stems from concerns over inflation and the broader economic uncertainty.

Jim Cramer [06:10]: "We just say the market fell apart today because the Fed seems reluctant to give us that rate cut backstop."

Cramer anticipates increased political pressure on Powell, particularly from the President, regarding monetary policy decisions.

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3. Corporate Earnings Highlights

a. VF Corporation (VF Corp.) Cramer discusses VF Corp.'s impressive quarterly performance, attributing the turnaround to strategic leadership under CEO Bracken Darrell.

Jim Cramer [15:46]: "Has VF Corp. Finally gotten its groove back?"

He showcases Darrell’s commitment to revitalizing brands like Vans and The North Face, highlighting significant growth in divisions such as trail running shoes and apparel.

Bracken Darrell [16:34]: "Vans is absolutely going to be turned around."

b. Microsoft and Meta Highlighting strong earnings from tech giants, Cramer points out that companies like Microsoft and Meta are outperforming expectations, largely driven by their cloud infrastructure and AI-driven initiatives.

Jim Cramer [05:50]: "Microsoft also reported a monster top and bottom line beat with tremendous strength in their Azure cloud infrastructure business."

c. Starbucks A detailed analysis of Starbucks' latest quarterly results follows. Despite initial stock volatility, Cramer remains optimistic about the company's turnaround efforts under CEO Brian Nichols.

Jim Cramer [25:59]: "I remain a believer. I told investing club members to be a big buyer."

He praises the introduction of the Green Apron service model aimed at improving in-store efficiency and customer experience, which has shown promising results in pilot stores.

Brian Nichols [29:58]: "We're reducing the number of hours where we have minimum staffing and making sure we have the right number of partners in the right positions at the right times."

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4. Listener Calls and Analysis

a. On Holdings (On Cloud Monster) A listener from Massachusetts shares concerns about a design flaw in On Holdings' shoes affecting repeat purchases. Cramer responds by expressing confidence in the company's ability to address the issue based on its track record.

Jim Cramer [09:50]: "The reason why I like the stock is that they have adjusted every time that there's been a problem."

b. Intel (INTC) Investment Inquiry Another caller from Illinois inquires about Intel's foray into the Foundry business. Cramer advises cautious optimism, acknowledging the challenges but noting the strategic shifts under the new CEO Lip Bhutan.

Jim Cramer [10:55]: "The Foundry was ill advised... It's still a little too early."

c. General Mills and Costco During the Lightning Round, Cramer addresses questions about General Mills’ pricing challenges and defends Costco’s valuation, encouraging investors to buy more shares.

Jim Cramer [33:05]: "They have input costs that cost too much... the stock is going to go down anyway."

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5. Lightning Round

Cramer engages in a rapid-fire segment, offering buy, sell, or hold recommendations based on caller inquiries.

• Uber: Cramer advocates for buying more shares, predicting significant growth.

  Jim Cramer [43:11]: "This company should be $120... I think Uber's going to 200."

• Micron (MU): He advises a cautious approach, suggesting limited purchases until DRAM pricing improves.

  Jim Cramer [44:02]: "I think you buy a little bit here but we do need to see DRAM pricing go back up."

• Key Stock (unspecified): Cramer expresses confidence despite current valuations.

  Jim Cramer [44:38]: "They are in expansion mode... especially that 4.5% yield."

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6. In-Depth Analysis: Starbucks' Turnaround Strategy

Cramer revisits Starbucks to elaborate on its strategic initiatives aimed at revitalizing the U.S. market. He underscores the positive feedback from the Green Apron pilot program and the company’s aggressive rollout plans.

Jim Cramer [30:24]: "Management's plan for improving the core business here at home... they're already showing some really promising results."

He also touches upon Starbucks' performance in international markets, particularly China, where the company is exploring potential partnerships and expansion into lower-tier cities.

Jim Cramer [34:10]: "Customers were responding to beverage innovation and new customization options."

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7. Economic Insights and Final Thoughts

In his closing remarks, Cramer connects the dots between rising consumer prices, Fed policies, and corporate earnings. He attributes persistent inflation to supply chain disruptions and tariff-induced cost increases, questioning the sustainability of current business models without significant consumer-driven price adjustments.

Jim Cramer [45:20]: "Businesses exist to make money for their shareholders, so they won't cut price unless their consumers, their customers finally force them to."

He remains optimistic about select sectors, particularly technology, which continue to thrive despite broader economic challenges.

Jim Cramer [43:22]: "Businesses keep raising prices no matter what the Fed does."

Cramer concludes by encouraging listeners to focus on long-term investment strategies amidst short-term market volatility.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jim Cramer [01:43]: "The market has officially lost its mojo."
• Jim Cramer [02:30]: "Why didn't they? Other than televisions, I can't find anything that's retreated in price."
• Jim Cramer [05:50]: "Microsoft also reported a monster top and bottom line beat with tremendous strength in their Azure cloud infrastructure business."
• Bracken Darrell [16:34]: "Vans is absolutely going to be turned around."
• Jim Cramer [15:46]: "Has VF Corp. Finally gotten its groove back?"
• Jim Cramer [25:59]: "I remain a believer. I told investing club members to be a big buyer."
• Brian Nichols [29:58]: "We're reducing the number of hours where we have minimum staffing and making sure we have the right number of partners in the right positions at the right times."
• Jim Cramer [43:11]: "This company should be $120... I think Uber's going to 200."
• Jim Cramer [44:02]: "I think you buy a little bit here but we do need to see DRAM pricing go back up."
• Jim Cramer [45:20]: "Businesses exist to make money for their shareholders, so they won't cut price unless their consumers, their customers finally force them to."

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Key Takeaways

• Fed Policy Impact: The Federal Reserve's decision to hold steady on interest rates amidst mixed economic indicators is causing uncertainty and affecting market sentiment.

• Corporate Performances: While tech giants like Microsoft and Meta continue to excel, traditional sectors face challenges due to inflationary pressures and supply chain issues.

• Strategic Turnarounds: Companies like VF Corp. and Starbucks are implementing strategic changes to rejuvenate their brands and improve operational efficiencies, showing promising early results.

• Investment Recommendations: Cramer encourages investors to focus on growth sectors, remain cautious with companies facing pricing pressures, and consider long-term strategies over reacting to short-term market fluctuations.

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This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and recommendations from the July 30, 2025, episode of "Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer," providing a comprehensive overview for listeners and investors alike.

Transcript

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[Jim Cramer]

Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to MAV Money. Welcome to Cramer. My friends, I'm just trying to make you a little money. My job is not just entertain, but explain crazy days like today. So call me at 1-800-743-CNBC or tweet me at Jim Cramer. All right, the market has officially lost its mojo. So we're back to love and tech and just tech and not much else. That's how I feel after the Fed meeting today after broke up with Fed chief Jay Powell explaining why policy is staying the same, there won't necessarily be a rate cut on the horizon. Not happening. Most of the market could benefit from a rate cut, but it would mean very little to companies like Microsoft or Metta, two hyperscaling members of the magnificent seven vertical nation states that shot the lights out when they reported after the close that I, I always find days like today mystifying. See, there's this camp I'm going to call them an ill informed segment because I use the word stupid too many times this morning that somehow expects a surprise from the Fed. Fed like a rate cut when it's least expected, then when they don't get the surprise, what do they do sell. Which is why The Dow only lost 172 points today. S.&P shed.12%. Nasdaq actually gained.15%, though I always say to myself, what are these numskals thinking? How can they be disappointed about something we all saw coming? The ironic part is that in the wake of their selling, we have a market that doesn't seem to have any oomph to it, aside from a handful of tech giants and their fellow travelers, like it's been for so long. We just say, you know what? All we're going to get is a boatload of attacks from the President against Chairman Powell. Especially because there's no Fed meeting until September, for heaven's sake. So there's nothing can be rectified in the interim. It's just one more reason for Wall street to freak out about the Fed losing its independence over the Fed meeting. Out of the way, we're back to worrying about earnings. And today we had a new wrinkle at rankle. See, the Fed chief, so worried about cutting rates too soon, did tell us the consumer ain't as strong as she used to be and housing's weaker than it should be. And then he does nothing. Look, I totally understand why Powell wants to wait. By historical standards, it would be kind of crazy for the Fed to cut rates here. We got a healthy GDP growth and that just today. Much better than expected and maybe even accelerating when it comes to tech spend. We have a strong labor market. We have very little indication of prices coming down, even if they're not going up as fast as they used to be. We've got new tariffs that for the moment, are mostly being eaten by the companies that ship things to America. But what happens when they start passing their higher costs along to you, as they almost always do? In the end, no Fed chief wants to be the guy who cuts too early unless inflation makes a comeback. But the President's demanding rate cuts yesterday. I get that too. We have the intractable price of housing. It refuses to come down. And the possibility, just the possibility, that the consumer is truly slowing. We got weak numbers yesterday from Stanley, Black and decker, United Parcel, PayPal and Whirlpool, which makes us wonder if we might be at the beginning of a slowdown today, though no real follow up. For instance, credit card giant Visa said business is quite strong. It's hard to say if business is slowing when a $700 billion market cap. Visa is crowing about how things are looking good. Starbucks, which makes a pricey cup of Coffee, if you ask me, told us this morning the business is coming back after prolonged downturn. More on that one later. Again, it's hard to imagine that the economy is really getting worse. If that's the case, in short, the backdrop is just too darn mixed for the Fed to take action. That's also why Powell pretty much punted on that forecast. Because who knows what the heck the future is going to look like. Certainly not the Federal Reserve, which is why they're so reluctant to make a move until they know more. Yet we know the President won't let up no matter what. Even if Powell's right, what does the President care? It won't be Trump's reputation that's tarnished. If we get more inflation, it'll be pals. President's got a free hand to say whatever he wants. Powell just has a number, a quarter point, a half point or whatever. And he'll be hanged on that number if he cuts and inflation comes back. What does all of this have to do with your portfolio? I gotta tell you, I think it's a Buzzkill for about 75% of the stocks in the S&P 500. If the broader market is going to keep climbing and we wanted to so badly, I think we do need lower rates. There are whole swaths of the economy that aren't doing all that well. Mostly connected to housing, but housing punches above its weight. But that is the real battleground. If you cut short term interest rates, the rates that the Fed can trolls and there's this much strength in the economy, what would happen to the long rates that mortgage are priced off of? Would mortgage interest rates go higher? I mean will look up, they go down. We don't really know. Do you know that rates went up on the long end when the Fed cut rates last time? On the short end? Maybe we'll know more on Friday when we get the employment number. If it's weak, then the President's endless hectoring of Jay Powell might be a little more justified. But if it's strong, then we know there won't be any rate cuts from the Fed to help the stock market go higher than that. But remember, we're talking about the broader stock market. Let's talk about the stock market that continue to just climb like mad. See, we have to revert to individual tech stocks. And if you aren't. Look, if you're just in an index fund, you can pivot right now to buy what's really smoking. And tonight we found that the smoke's coming from Metta and Microsoft coming in earnings. The street was worried that Mark Zuckerberg might be paying too much for talent but but when we looked at the numbers we had to laugh. Like a great baseball team owner, Zuckerberg can overpay all he wants. Met is winning the championships for these numbers which were sharply better than even the most bullish of Meta's amen chorus. Plus they gave us an amazingly strong forecast, much higher than expected revenue with their capital expenditure budget coming in at the low end. Of course what does that have to do with the Fed, right? Meanwhile, Microsoft also reported a monster top and bottom line beat with tremendous strength in in their Azure cloud infrastructure business. Many people think that's the most important division where growth accelerated from 35% to 39% in just three months. This is a huge business. That's incredible. Their business is on fire to the scale of the sales and earnings be here were pretty staggering. I am shocked at the strength we're seeing here. Microsoft, like matter, is spending fortunes on hardware and software and it just keeps paying off. As always, we have to wait until the Microsoft earnings call, which is ongoing, to get the company's forecast and thus the full story. But the numbers that reported for this quarter, they are incredible. But these two core magnificent seven companies do not relate much to anything that Jay Powell is talking about as I call them. They are nation states of their own. Aside from these heavy hitters and companies like in video that helped them accomplish these astonishing results. You can't get the rest of the market moving up without some sign that the Fed will backstop us. Maybe we shouldn't even care. The bottom line, I think this market fell apart today because the Fed seems reluctant to give us that rate cut backstop. I didn't get the sense of the so called inevitability of rate cuts that I felt from the last two Fed meetings. Judging by the action, not many others did either. But you know what? After the close, maybe Microsoft and that set us all. All right, let's go to Sam in Massachusetts. Sam.

[Caller]

Jim, how are you?

[Jim Cramer]

I am good, Sam, how about you?

[Caller]

Good. You know Jim, I'm calling you tonight not just as an investor, but as an avid distance runner who put over a thousand miles in the on cloud monster. See, after running in the shoe the first time, I was a real evangelist for the company. I even bought the stock, bought a huge position in on holdings. But after running over a thousand miles in their shoe, I noticed a design flaw that not just myself but my friends have reported. The back of the shoe and digs into the Achilles. Now if they would fix this issue. This company has the best shoe in the world but with this issue I got issues with the repeat purchases. I'm worried, I'm worried about.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, you know, let me tell you something. The reason why I like the stock is that they have adjusted every time that there's been a problem. Roger Federer and his team have adjusted and I think that if there's really something that's lasting and negative, they will fix it. Which is one of the reasons why I do like On. I am concerned that Nike may be making a comeback and take business from one. But I think on is a decent buy here. Let's go to Aaron in Illinois. Aaron.

[Caller]

Hey Jim. Happy to be talking to you. I started investing 10 years ago and since then I've learned so much from you and some of your colleagues at cnbc. I just want to say thank you.

[Jim Cramer]

For what you do and we thank you right back. That's terrific comment. Thank you so much.

[Caller]

I appreciate what you've been saying about it being an ideas economy because I think there are so many exciting things happening. The company I want to ask you about is intel intc. I got it excited about this company a few years ago when they said they were going to go into the Foundry, which I think is a critical need in this country to make these chips. And you know, based on their last earnings report, it seems like they're flubbing it. So. So what's your take on the Foundry and what should I do about Intel?

[Jim Cramer]

Okay. The Foundry was ill advised. You're right. We need them in the country, but they are not necessarily profitable and intel, the previous CEO was spending far too much on them. We have a new CEO at Intel. The CEO's name is Lip Bhutan and he totally understands everything I just mentioned about foundries. He did make me feel that a turn is not yet at hand. It's still a little too early. If you started buying here, I think you're going to be able to just kind of break even versus so many others, including my favorite Nvidia. Listen, I didn't get a sense of any inevitability of break cuts today like I have in past meetings. But you know what? The market didn't either. However, Microsoft and Meta kind of overwhelmed all the negativity at the end of the night on Man Money tonight, the F Corp, the parent of Vans and North Face, is up majorly after its better than expected quarter. I'm digging into the impressive report with the company's top brands then Wall street is starting to see the vision that Starbucks CEO Brian Nichols planned for the coffee giant. I'm sharing why I also feel confident after last night's report and Berto's quarter gave us a real look at the strength in the data center that I just referred to with Microsoft and with Meta. I'm getting a sense of demand for AI driven infrastructure with the CEO and let me tell you, pretty darn strong. So stay with Kramer.

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[Jim Cramer]

Has VF Corp. Finally gotten its groove back? This footprint apparel company you know as maybe Vans of North Face Timberland reported magnificent quarter this morning. The stocks at least shot up 3% today. That was up much more than earlier. You know what the Fed did. Here's a stock that's been a real dog for a long time, frankly. But two years ago, the board brought in Bracken Darrell, formerly the CEO of Logitech, to turn things around, and now it looks like he's starting to pull it off. But don't take it from me. Earlier today we spoke with Bracken Darrell, the president CEO of VF Corp. Take a look. We are going to go over what I think is one of the most controversial stories that shouldn't be. It shouldn't be because we have Bracken Dallas in charge of it. So it was only just a matter of time. Bracken, welcome back to the show.

[Bracken Darrell]

Thank you so much for having us.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay, so the big sticking point here has not been North Face has been really good. It's not been Timberland. Wow, I really like it. It's been Vans. And this is the first time since you've gotten there that I detect genuine green shoots in many different ways. So I am going to ask you, can Vans be turned around in the next year?

[Bracken Darrell]

You know, Vans is going to be turned around and it's I'm not giving the exact time frame, but Vans is absolutely going to be turned around. We've got as you said we've got green shoes at the very top. You know, we've got. At this year's, this year's Paris Fashion Week was just last month. There were probably more skate like shoes there than, than have been in a decade. And you know, these, these trends start at the top. So there's really good luxury trends in our stores. We're overpopulating with premium product. We're doing super well the, the Oxford street store in London, the Fifth Avenue street store in New York. So I see the green shoots too, and it's, and it feels good. And I just, you know, maybe we'll talk about the work tour, but you can feel it there too.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, let me just ask you, why has it been so hard? Hard? What happened to make what I regard as being a premium exciting brand into a brand that's really seemed to be, even for you, a not easy turn?

[Bracken Darrell]

You know, there are three things that really happened there. First, we, the innovation pipeline got very stale. They just didn't launch new products. And then the second thing was they really overextended into value doors with those same shoes that were going very, very broad. They look the same, were the same. So we just overdid it with a couple of styles. And then the marketing got stale. So those three things that we were really reversing engines, so it's taken longer because we've had to really reset the distribution. So we've pulled back on value doors. We've reduced the scope of what we're selling in there. We've reduced our own number of doors by about almost 20%. And the net effect of all that is it's a slower turn. And this industry takes time to get new products out. So we've got a great rating though, a super leader. And we're going to be a machine rolling out new products over the, over the next year and year and a half.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay. In the interim, it is very telling that North Face remains not only a premium brand, but one that has gotten very exciting again. It never lost it in Europe. I think the people in Europe are just always very exciting about it. But United States, which has been, of course, an obviously important market, seems to caught fire. So give us a sense of where North Face is now.

[Bracken Darrell]

Now, you know, North Face is, as you said, it's always been a terrific brand. It really stands for exploration and, you know, that's appealing to everybody. What we're doing now is we're continuing to innovate in the core business, but we're also bringing out more and More footwear. Our bags and packs business, which is one of the oldest part. Both those segments of the business grew over 20% globally. And we're, we're just going to keep pouring it on. And we've got so many opportunities in just bringing out more product for the sport spring and summer as we go into next spring and summer. So there's a lot of opportunity on North Face globally right now.

[Jim Cramer]

Timberland, it seems very exciting. At 9% growth. This is a brand that we remember as being fantastic. Then it got small. Can it get big again?

[Bracken Darrell]

I think so. I mean, I think really Timberland is, is one of our. One of those brands for us that is the brand itself is so much bigger than the business, you know, and the potential. You've really caught fire on the yellow boot, as you said. But we've also got really clear signs that the boat shoe, remember those boat shoes that we used to wear when we were kids? Those are starting to pick up steam again, especially in Europe, but even here in the US and we're really working hard to fuel both those engines and then bring on more and more new products and more and more apparel. So we've got a lot of opportunities in Timberland too, right now.

[Jim Cramer]

I had to ask around the office. I always feel old when I do that. But Altra people are. I thought it was like a. I thought it was like a cigarette. Altra is a hot shoe.

[Bracken Darrell]

It's about as far from a cigarette as you get. It's the best trail running shoe you can buy. It's the biggest actually in trail running. We're tied for number one in trail running. We're also moving up fast. The fastest growing of the top eight shoes in OR 8, 8 brands in road running, believe it or not. It's gone from about, you know, $60 million. We bought it to about 250 this year. Should be 250 or 250 plus this year. So it's really on fire. It's a great shoe. Has a unique point of difference. This wide toe box that's really healthier for your foot. So the people get in it, are hooked. And here's the really unbelievable thing. It's a $250 million business at run rate with less than 10% awareness in the US and probably that's aided. Awareness, meaning. Have you ever heard of Ultra? And so people like you, like 90% of people. And outside the US it's even smaller. So we can scale this business.

[Jim Cramer]

All right, that's important because I'd love to see without Having to spend more money. I don't want you to buy anything till you get your balance sheet where you want it. But that's very exciting. Now, now there is, there's a, there's a brand called Carhartt and we all know it's fantastic. And then you have a brand called Dickies. Now, I told you I bought that jacket at wal Mart for 25 bucks. Was Dickies jacket. I would have paid 50. I don't know why Doug McMillan is giving away at 25, but could Dickies ever be Carhartt first?

[Bracken Darrell]

I love Doug, you know, the CEO and you do, too. So whatever he's pricing at, I'm okay with it. Look, look, I think we don't have to be Carhartt. We have to be. We have to be the best Dickies we could possibly be. We haven't in the last few years. Now, the trends on there are improving, too. So the, there was a turnaround to do there and it really dampened this quarter. Got in the single digits. And I'm really optimistic about that business, too. I've got a fantastic team there led by a super guy, Chris Goble out of Gap, and he's brought in some. Just a superstar team there. So just like sunshine at advance and Caroline Brown and Nina Flood, I've got four really great big brand leaders now.

[Jim Cramer]

All right, and then last thing, Bracken, I know that you're dealing with the tariffs. You've been able to mitigate some, not all. How life threatening is a tariff to.

[Bracken Darrell]

VF Corp. Look, you know, the tariffs are. The great thing about the tariffs is that they treat everybody equally in our industry. Just everybody's kind of in the same boat. So in an environment like that, we can deal with it. So we're taking cost out, relocating factories, and we're raising prices. And we will manage it all as we go into 27. We'll manage it all so that during 27 we'll offset all the tariffs between those three mechanisms. So it's not life threatening. We will manage it.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, if you had to raise prices, is the consumer strong enough to be able to take price?

[Bracken Darrell]

I think so. You know, we're going to do very strategically and as I said, the good thing is, you know, when you're looking at alternatives, you know, if everybody's raising price, and I suspect they will be in our industry because everybody's going to have the same cost increase, then prices will go up and then it comes back to let the best brands win. And we believe we have great brands.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, I think your situation is, oh God, I want to own the stock myself. Not allowed to. But I think it's really tough time for Bracken Dowell, President CEO of VF Corp. Brack, I love when you're on the show. Thanks so much. Thank you so much.

[Bracken Darrell]

Hey Jim, I just have to say, you know, I now bought on my own. I've taken $3 million of my own money one by one by one and bought stock myself. So I'm obviously more than just a believer. I'm personally invested beyond what you normally get as a CEO.

[Jim Cramer]

I like a CEOs all in with his own money rather than just having the shareholders give it to him. It's because it's much better, more real that way. Thank you. Bracken. Great to see you again.

[Bracken Darrell]

Thank you.

[Jim Cramer]

That's Bracken Dow, President CEO of VF Corp. Thank you.

[Dell Advertiser]

Coming up, investors had a tall order for Starbucks latest quarter. Kramer's checking in on the coffee chain and its turnaround efforts.

[Jim Cramer]

Next.

[Fidelity Advertiser]

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[Jim Cramer]

What do we make of these numbers that Starbucks reported last night? This is the stock tumbled in after hours trading, then it shot up to $97 at the Open then plunged again to $90 less than an hour later for rebounding to finish the day effectively flat. They've given you the full roller coaster experience over the past 24 hours. Even though the headline numbers were weaker than expected, I found the overall results to be pretty encouraging. Keep in mind, Starbucks has been a long term holding for my charitable trust. Not always a good holding. But for the past year, ever since they poached Brian Nichol from Chipotle to take over as CEO, stock's been doing much better. Brian orchestrated an incredible turnaround Chipotle. And I think you can do the same at Starbucks. That's why the Stock jumped almost 25% on the day it was higher. The stock kept climbing till this March when everybody started worrying about tariffs and the fact that the turn might be more difficult than first thought. Which is why the stock plunged to the high 70s in April for ultimately rebounding to the low 90s as of today. Throughout this period, we've stuck with Starbucks because I believe Brian can deliver another turnaround here. He's got a plan to solve the throughput problem. This is a chain with too many customers, so they need to be able to process your orders more quickly. Quickly with the goal of less than four minutes. He's also trying to improve the in store experience, getting back to the Starbucks of old, the old third place between home and office. Along the way though, the numbers, let's say they've been pretty choppy. When the company reported in late April, they posted a top and bottom line miss with some of their worst numbers coming from the United States business, sparking fears that the turnaround could be further out than we thought. Now look, I remain a believer. I told investing club members to be a big buyer, but things did feel pretty grim. Fast forward to last night when Starbucks reported again. This time the headline numbers were a bit disappointing. With global same store sales down 2%, Wall street was looking for a 1.3% decline. Even though the revenue came in higher than expected, their earnings seemed to come in soft. With Starbucks earning $0.50 per share, Wall street was looking for $0.65. However, much of that miss was actually from one off items like a tax charge and an expensive leadership meeting. Well, expensive, but I think it paid off. Without those, the company would have earned 61 cents per share. Still a miss, but a much smaller one. When those numbers first crossed the wire right after the close, the stock plunged as people figured oh, here we go, another weak quarter. But then it quickly bounced back as investors spent more time looking at the quarter first off, people saw through the confusing earnings numbers, realizing that the miss wasn't as bad as they thought. Second, while Starbucks had weak global same stories store sales there are also some very encouraging signs in certain regions. North America, which had been a real problem area, came in better than expected with the US specifically in line with expectations, not missing the estimates as it did the previous quarter. China, previously the worst region for Starbucks, was also a relative bright spot with Same store sales up 2% driven by a 6% increase in transactions. The disappointment here came from the rest of the international business which had flat comps. Geez. Wall street was looking for 2.2% uptick. It had been a really good area, not great. But management's been focused on turning around the domestic business first and they seem to be making progress on that front even better. When the conference call got going last night, Nicol and his team gave us many more reasons to feel optimistic. He devoted a significant portion of his prepared remarks to the company's Green Apron service operating model, which is basically their plan to improve improve the in store experience here in America. Starbucks began testing this model in 1500 stores eight weeks ago. That's all eight weeks. But Nichols said that the partner feedback has been tremendous with these 1500 stores seeing improvements in transactions, sales and customer service times given the success they've had so far. Nichols said that Starbucks plans to begin scaling up the Green Apron service across all of US stores starting in mid August. That is well ahead of their original schedule and very bullish and why I think at the very beginning the call, he said they're ahead of scared now. This morning when I spoke to Brian on Squawk on the street, he gave us a more complete rundown on Green Apron. Listen to this.

[Dell Advertiser]

We wanted to get back to winning the morning day part and then we wanted to make sure we were staffed correctly throughout the balance of the day. So what you'll see with the Green Apron service model is we're reducing the number of hours where we have minimum staffing and then we're making sure that we have the right number of parts partners in the right position at the right times. I think what you'll see is nice improvements in the morning day part and then the balance of the day. What we've seen is we've also seen transaction gains there.

[Jim Cramer]

That's what I found most encouraging about the Starbucks quarter management's plan for improving the core business here at home. They're already showing some really promising results, so much so that the company's accelerating that rollout of their new model. At the end of the day, nothing else matters for Starbucks if it can't turn the US business around. Now they've gotten a proven way to make that happen. There was plenty of other positive news too, like the solid performance in China where Nichols said customers were responding to beverage innovation and new customization options. While Starbucks has been really ruthless about keeping prices low for non coffee items. He also gave a strategic update on whether they might sell that Chinese business, saying that Starbucks has, quote, received significant, significant interest from more than 20 interested parties and we're evaluating options, end quote. Though he stressed that the company remains committed to keeping some of the China business, he wants to retain a meaningful stake in it. They do want to go down to the third and fourth tier cities. That's very important. Nikkei also offered a walk around the globe touching on some other key international markets and the commentary was much more promising than the disappointing overall international Same store sales number again. I felt better putting it all together. I think it was a very positive quarter even if the stock was all over the map today. I didn't want to take my cue from the stock and see more. It seemed to have more to do with the Federal Reserve. Well, that's a little ridiculous. But don't worry about these short term swings which were kind of a microcosm of the stock's whole first year. Under Nicholas leadership focus on what matters the long term turnaround plan which is going well ahead of schedule. The bottom line, if Brian Nicholls keeps delivering on the turnaround front, I bet Starbucks and its shareholders will be huge with winners. That's still my expectation here and I feel even better about it tonight than I did last night before the company reported. Let's take some calls. Let's go to Andre in Louisiana. Andre.

[Caller]

Hey Jim, how are you?

[Jim Cramer]

I am very good, Andre. How about you?

[Caller]

I'm a big fan of Costco and so I am befuddled just as you are about the price action.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, you know what? I am glad you called me on Costco. I was just, I was actually kind of mulling over this one with Jeff Marks, my colleague on the club. And I have to tell you I am sick and tired of the stock going down. People feel 51 times earnings is too expensive. I think that's wrong. I think they're doing everything right. Every check indicates to me that it's time to start buying some if you don't have any. And if you have some, perhaps you should buy some more. Brandon in Texas. Brandon.

[Caller]

Howdy, Coach Kramer.

[Jim Cramer]

Hey man, how you been? Been all right. Good. And what's happening? Hey, has your stance shifted at all.

[Caller]

On gis General Mills?

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah, I've gone from here to here. Meaning no, not much stance changed at all. Here's the problem. This is one of those companies that frankly is part of what I talk about as being in the heart of the inflation complex. They've got food that costs too much, they have input costs that cost too much. And they're going to have to sacrifice their profit margin and bring their food price down or else they're not going to do the business that they used to do. And no one wants to cut their margins. They're afraid about what will happen in the stock market. But all that's going to happen is the stock is going to go down anyway. All right. If Starbucks keeps delivering on the turnaround equal promise today, I think this stock could get a double shot of a boost. Now there's much more money ahead, including my exclusively data center player Vertif. Could Wall street be underestimating the power of the AI build out especially for the earnings we saw tonight? I'm getting the latest from the CEO and the consumer still feeling this pinch from high prices. So what is it really going to take for companies to ease up at the register? Like I just mentioned with General Mills, I'm going to give you my take and all your calls. Rapid fire in tonight's edition of the Lightning round. So stay with Kramer this morning. We got some excellent results from Vertiv holdings. That's the maker of specialized power and cooling equipment for the data center which has been a phenomenal winner over the past few years. The company reported numbers that came in well ahead of expectations in nearly every line. Sales up 35% year over year. 12 cent earnings beat off an 83 cent basis. Even better, Vert have issued a strong outlook for the current quarter and raised its full year forecast. It's very strong backlog too. However, after being up nearly $11 at one point today, that's like 8% in early trading. The stock gave back essentially all those gains throughout the course of today's trading session. But like I said at this top of the day of the show, what mattered is the Fed and that somehow interfered even with this great company. I'm not too worried because this feels like a normal profit taking day in a stock that at its highs was up 186% from its post liberation day lows. But still, let's take a closer look with Jill. Alberto is the CEO of Vertif. Holdings and it's great to have you back, Gio. Welcome to Mad Money.

[Gio Alberto]

Well, thank you for having me, Jim. It's great being with you again.

[Jim Cramer]

All right, so Geo, I mean we've got to this. Somebody's just jump out. Net sales up 35%. Organic orders up 15% year over year end up 11% sequentially. Robust backlog $8.5 billion. Tell us about some of the factors powering what I regard as incredible sales momentum.

[Gio Alberto]

You know, it is certainly a very strong, very strong quarter and a very strong trajectory. And there are two factors. We're serving an industry that is, that is very strong. And you've been vocal about the industry, the data center air as a, as a very strong long, long term trend, secular, secular trend. And it is really happening and we have a great portfolio. We continue to expand our portfolio and in this market we are taking, we're taking also market share. We're growing more than a market as we promised to our investors already when we had our Investor Day in 2034. So it's happening.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, I thought it was very interesting. I know. Dave Cody starts your call. Dave, we know from previously from Honeywell in a digital revolution he says that's got a long way to go and data centers remain fundamental to all of it. So you guys fit right smack in the middle. And yet at the same time I was trying to understand something you were talking about. And I don't mean to say that I'm ignorant, but you're talking about where you sit exactly in between a lot of different situations. And I need you to describe it because I know you think it's incredibly important to say where you are in the food chain. Strength in data center gray space and white space.

[Gio Alberto]

Yeah, absolutely. So you opened up the conversation talking about our power and thermal portfolio offering strength. That's what we do and that's what we've done historically. So it's a think about the data center. There is a big power infrastructure, there is a big cooling infrastructure and it all to power the IT stack. Think about a big facility that supports the IT stack. But the interesting thing is that as the power density increases and we know that power density from Iraq is going from a traditional 10 kilowatt all the way to north of half a megawatt per rack. Well then that IT part that we call in the industry the white space, it's becoming so dense that the power, liquid cool power and the liquid cooling and the cooling become one thing almost with the it. So there is that sharing the same Space space. And that makes the white space that for us was a little bit remote in the past, an area where we play and not only where we play without cooling and power technology, but where we make the difference in terms of enabling our customers to really utilize the new and future technology that is increasingly high density. Thinking about the future and the new, the GPU technology, the GB3 hundreds and the future even more powerful GPU technology, well that is happening. White space is becoming more important for us and we play a bigger role.

[Jim Cramer]

This is important because your partners we saw, we happen to have the pleasure of going to a core Weave center where all we saw was vertive everywhere of course some in video GPUs. I've not been to a nuclear technology situation site where I know you're working with oklo. That's incredibly exciting. So talk to me about the core Core Way partnership, the Dell partnership and the OCLO partnership.

[Gio Alberto]

Well, certainly Cool Weave is, is an important partners partner of ours and we're extremely proud of being, having been part together with Dell of enabling the first colo level GB300 deployment. And really it's a collaboration with Nvidia, with Dell, with, with Co Weave. Our cooling technology was, was an important part of that stack. So clearly working with all these enormously important players. But there is an aspect we go to oklo to nuclear technology of, you know, the data center needs power, data center need power. And there is more and more data center design, thought process oriented towards being off grid and having local power generation. And certainly small nuclear reactors are certainly a credible solution. Maybe a little bit out in terms of time, but it's going to happen. All right. So that comes of course with the need to power and cool that part together in an integrated manner with the rest.

[Jim Cramer]

That's what I think. You're going to be around a long time. So that is absolutely right to be focused on. One last thing. I do want to be concerned with margin pressure, particularly from operational inefficiencies, but also from tariffs. You mentioned that tariffs were higher than anticipated. It hurt the supply chain manufacturing transition. Is this something we need to worry about or something that is just going to be what the Fed chairman calls transitory?

[Gio Alberto]

It is transitory for us in a sense that we, we believe that end of 2025 we will have tariffs offsetting actions that really offset the impact of tariffs for us. But there is a transitional element in which you move supply chains, you redeploy backlog from one place to another. You have, I don't know Accelerated shipments. There is a lot of work in terms of bringing up the supply chain and manufacturing footprint from one place to the new place that really offset. Offsets the tariffs. But there is also an element of pricing in the tariffs that, of course, is, is kicking in. So there are a lot of things at play. And we call this really the transitory cost of, of tariffs. But also, you know, one thing that I like to say is we're growing. We've been growing to Q2 at 35% and put tariffs and tariff, supply chain reconfiguration with that. That's a lot of stuff going on. And, and, you know, for industrial company having to, to handle all that, there is a lot of work. So hence the inefficiency. We have a very, very sharp and focused operational programs to tackle those. And we feel good about how we, we're going to end the year and, and the trajectory.

[Jim Cramer]

I'm not going to be as concerned about that. I thank you for explaining that to us. Obviously, the core business is on fire, and we know that from some of the things you guys do with the big hyperscalers too. So I want to thank Gio Opportunity, the CEO of Vertigo. It's great to see you. Thank you.

[Gio Alberto]

Likewise. Thanks.

[Jim Cramer]

Absolutely. Net money's back here.

[Dell Advertiser]

Coming up, Chris 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 light round.

[Caller]

And.

[Jim Cramer]

Then the light lightning round is over. Are you ready, Ski Dang. Come to the right round. Kramer's markets go to Frank in New York. Frank.

[Caller]

Dr. Grandma. I'm hurting. I'm hurting. I own.

[Jim Cramer]

All right. I own Uber. I own Uber.

[Caller]

They're fantastic. That they're a cash flow juggernaut. You need to wake up the people. You got to give one of your they know nothing speeches and wake these people up.

[Jim Cramer]

This company should be $120, okay? It stocks up 45%. I got so many. I got a lot of stocks that are down. Those are the ones I got to wake up. I think uber's going to 200. I just say you go buy more here. That's the only solution that I see. Let's go to Ian in Florida, please. Ian, hey.

[Caller]

Booyah, Jim. How you doing?

[Jim Cramer]

Booyah. Right back at you. Doing well. How about you?

[Caller]

Doing excellent, Jim. Thanks. Third time caller investing club member.

[Jim Cramer]

All right.

[Caller]

Jim, I wanted to get your feedback. What do you think about this chip stock? Been performing okay lately? We had a bit of a pullback. Is it a Good time to get into Micron.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay. The problem with Micron is it's got two businesses got high bandwidth memory which goes into yes the data center Nvidia and then it's got dram. Plain old dram. Dram pricing has not been good which is why the stock dropped from the 1 30s all the way back to where it is. I would say this. I think you buy a little bit here but we do need to see see DRAM pricing go back up before you get a lot of good pin action in that stock. Let's go to Gary, New Jersey. Gary.

[Caller]

Greetings from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Jim.

[Jim Cramer]

Love it. I'm used to go to the Latin. What's happening?

[Caller]

I love my stock is key.

[Jim Cramer]

Do you think they'll fall out soon?

[Caller]

It looks like we have good.

[Jim Cramer]

You know what, that's an interesting question but we have Chris Gorman on and Chris was also on another show recently. I don't think they're in any. I think they're in expansion mode. I don't think they're in sell mode. But I don't mind owning a stock at all, especially that 4.5% yield. And that ladies and gentlemen is the conclusion of the Lightning round.

[Dell Advertiser]

The Lightning round is sponsored by Charles Schwab. Coming up, rates, tariffs and supply chain cramers breaking down all that's driven prices higher and what it'll take for rising costs to finally break next.

[Jim Cramer]

Everything's changed since COVID but we just keep acting like it has. We are always surprised when we hear that higher prices are hurting demand and a company isn't doing that well. That's how I felt about the plummeting price of Chipotle stock. I was checking it out after talking with Brian Nichol, the current CEO of Starbucks who came over from Chipotle about a year ago. When Brian left the stock was at 56, the S&P 500 was at 5, 6, 4, 8. Now the stocks at 43 and change while the S&P is at 6362. Well, what's happened here? It's not the in store experience but it's the same place it was always. It's just gotten a lot more expensive. With the aid of one of the generative AI platforms which source from social media posts and various media reports we can see that from 2019 till now the price of a chicken burrito with Chipotle has gone from around seven bucks to the low double digits. A steak burrito is nearly doubled in that time frame. It's in the low to Mid teens, Carnitas is up 25 to 50%, yet a bowl with guac. So it's going from the low double digits to the low 20s. And look, I'm not trying to pick on Chipotle, and I recognize those prices are all over the map, given their crowdsourced nature. So many restaurants, so many kinds of stores, so many homes, so much entertainment, all is the same problem. But to not relate Chipotle's stock price to these, price stock to these. What's happening with the prices? Well, that's just fanciful. The consumer is just paying a lot more. Nobody likes that. Which brings me to the Federal Reserve and its decision to hold off on cutting rates. I think they're worried about another round of price increases, this time from the tariffs, not from COVID Normally at this point in the business cycle, we expect a wholesale lowering of prices as companies try to get their sales to reignite, even at the cost of profits. Much harder for that to happen if all our imports are about to be roughly 15% more expensive. Doesn't help that we have a 3% GDP growth and a very low unemployment rate. There's no way prices are coming down with that backdrop. Now, I know there's a tendency to blame all this on politics, and I don't want that here. You can point to Biden's deficit spending or Trump's tariffs and unfunded tax cuts. I don't care. I think it misses the real issue because the whole world had elevated and inflation since the pandemic. In reality, Covid led to a lot of scarcity, a lot of supply chain problems that caused prices to rise. And once we got over the pandemic, well, guess what? Businesses kept their prices up. They should have lowered them. Why didn't they? Other than televisions, I can't find anything that's retreated in price. Just some things that didn't go up as much as others. All that said, relatively high interest rates haven't done much to push prices back down. I can see why President Trump wants rate cuts. All presidents want lower rates. They're usually just more subtle about it. Lower rates could theoretically lower the price of housing, which is a huge portion of a family's budget. And lower rates will save money. However, homes might go higher in price because of more robust demand from lower rates. And it's hard to see how lowering the cost of borrowing will lower the price of goods that have just been marked up by tariffs. No, the only thing that will get prices down is a strike by you, the consumer, a strike that simply hasn't happened. You need people to stop going to expensive entertainment events. You need them to stop shopping anywhere besides Wal Mart and Costco. When there been spire strikes like you've seen at Lulu or perhaps Chipotle, there is pressure to cut price, but Wall street doesn't want companies to do that. Wall street wants higher prices and better sales. Even as we keep realizing how impossible that combination has become in this new environment. I think it's why we tend to look at other sectors, especially tech, where pricing isn't a factor, as witnessed by the blowout numbers this very evening from Microsoft and Metta. Right now though, as long as people keep buying from these companies, they'll keep raising prices no matter what the Fed does. I'm not saying that everyone's price gouging, no, I'm just saying that businesses exist to make money for their shareholders, so they won't cut price unless their consumers, their customers finally force them to. Luckily in some cases that's already happening, but it's just not happening fast enough to allow the Fed to restart the rate cut engine. Like I said, as always, bull market somewhere in a pound side just for you right here on Mad Money, I'm Jim Cramer. See you tomorrow.

[Fidelity Advertiser]

All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Kramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of cnbc, NBC Universal, or their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by Kramer on television, radio, Internet or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed by Jim Cramer as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion. Kramer's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Mad Money disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com madmoneydisclaimer trading@schwab is now.

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