Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 9/9/25

Summary

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Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer – September 9, 2025

Main Theme:
Jim Cramer delivers a high-energy, insightful episode focused on finding your investing edge in a challenging market. He dives deeply into the evolving story of share buybacks, highlights the power of buyback "aristocrats," analyzes hot speculative stocks with guest experts, features an in-depth interview with AeroVironment's CEO, and reviews the latest performance of Casey’s General Stores. Throughout, Cramer remains true to his dual mission: educate and entertain, all while helping listeners “make money.”

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. The Investing “Edge” – Buyback Aristocrats (02:14–12:47)

• Buybacks as a Market Force:
  Cramer opens by explaining how buybacks have acted as a tailwind for the market, referencing research from Dave Kostin (Goldman Sachs) and discussing the current fade in buyback growth.

  • “When you want to buy a stock, you need an edge...Buybacks drain the excess supply from the system. It seems they are draining a lot less than they were just a few months ago.” — Jim Cramer (03:13)

• The “Buyback Aristocrats”:
  Leveraging Kostin’s new research piece, Cramer highlights companies that have consistently reduced share count by 1%+, 9 out of 10 years.

  • This list includes Davita, eBay, Synchrony Financial, HP, Autozone, Jabil, Wells Fargo, and Apple, with a focus on performance during economic slowdowns.

• Cramer’s Picks:
  He moves through Kostin’s list, weighing both buyback strength and underlying business fundamentals:

  • AutoZone (AZO): Praised for massive, consistent buybacks (6% annual reduction). “Ten years ago it had roughly 31 million shares. Now it’s less than 17 million...That’s what happens when you’re repurchasing at a clip of 6% every year. I like it.” (09:51)
  • Wells Fargo (WFC): Points to aggressive recent buybacks ($5.5B this quarter) as a “huge sign of confidence.” (11:30)
  • Apple (AAPL): Notes Apple’s “legendary” buyback strategy and statistical outperformance a year after iPhone launches, using today’s iPhone 17 launch as a timely example.
    • “Let’s make real money, OK? 13% in a year after new iPhone launch. That’s what I call real money. I like Apple. I like those launch statistics. And now I have one more reason to tell you to own it, not trade it.” (12:08)

• Bottom Line:
  “You need fortitude to buy stocks to stick with them. Apple’s buyback helps that fortitude... Don’t forget AutoZone, Jabil, and the incredibly inexpensive Wells Fargo. Bye bye bye.” (12:39)

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2. CEO Interview: Waheed Nuabi, AeroVironment (AV) (13:48–23:08)

• Strong Quarterly Results & Growth Outlook:
  Cramer interviews AV CEO Waheed Nuabi after another solid quarter (revenues, bookings, and backlog all up, guidance raised).

  • Nuabi: “I can very confidently say that AV’s prospects for growth and value creation has never been better.” (15:25)

• AV’s Unique Position in Defense:

  • Broad, unmatched technology portfolio: drones, anti-drone systems, RF jamming, directed energy/lasers, space communications—and a new integrated software ecosystem (AV Halo).
  • “We make drones, we make counter-drones, we make RF jamming systems against drones... It’s a very large and integrated portfolio... unmatched in industry.” — Nuabi (17:02)

• National Security Context:

  • With global conflicts and threats escalating, demand for AV’s solutions is accelerating.
  • Nuabi stresses bipartisan support, urgent need, and unique AV capability to quickly scale production.

• Golden Dome & Partnerships:

  • Strategic partnership announced with Sierra Nevada Corporation to address US “Golden Dome” security needs leveraging AV’s off-the-shelf solutions.
  • “We have the 80% solution today off the shelf... we will take a contract to get a site up and running operationally... by the end of this calendar year.” — Nuabi (19:27)

• Real-World Impact:

  • When asked about large drone attacks (e.g. Russia-Ukraine), Nuabi diplomatically assures Cramer that AV’s technology can successfully counter such threats for the US and allies.

• Red Dragon Project:

  • An affordable, mass-producible, autonomous drone for swarming applications.
  • “It, it’s inexpensive... allows us to have swarms of these by the tens of thousands against our adversaries all around the globe. It will give us a competitive edge in the battlefield.” (22:07)

  Cramer’s Takeaway:

  • He urges viewers to focus on the full story and guidance, not just the misleading headline EPS numbers, recalling the previous post-earnings rally after a similar setup.

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3. Speculative Stock Analysis (Off the Charts w/ Bob Lang) (24:19–38:00)

• Speculation—Done Wisely:
  Cramer embraces intelligent speculation as a way to make outsized gains; stresses profit-taking and loss discipline.

• Featured Speculative Stocks & Chart Insights (w/ Bob Lang):

  • Aeva (ALST): 3D lidar sensors for AVs, robotics, and defense. Strong uptrend, bullish volume; potential targets: $45–$50. “Lang thinks you’re getting perfect buying opportunity right here, right now.” (25:30)
  • Rocket Lab (RKLB): Light orbital rockets. After explosive spring run, now consolidating. Another "buy the dip" at 50-day MA, possible move above $60 if momentum returns.
  • Oclo (OCLO): Builds compact nuclear reactors, hot due to AI/data center electricity needs. Pullback off highs is another buying op; potential for a "short squeeze" with high short interest.
    • “As long as it can get back above its previous high at 85, well, Lang says, you’ve got smooth sailing to the triple digits.” (33:08)
  • AppLovin (APP): Digital advertising, now in S&P 500. Relentless rally; strong indicators; Lang expects continued upside, likening it to a “mini Google.” (35:50)
  • Cramer’s Perspective:
    “The charts interpreted by Bob Lang suggested speculative stocks like Alstair, Rocket Lab and Outlook can get their groove back. While Applovin's just going to continue to roar. I think he makes a very compelling case.” (36:31)

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4. Company Focus: Casey’s General Stores (39:46–44:30)

• Casey’s as an Under-the-Radar Growth Story:

  • Cramer’s longtime bullishness validated by strong performance (almost 2400% return over 20 years; 94% since he started “pushing” it two years ago).
    • “They found this great niche... It’s also, by the way, why the stock always seems to fly under the radar on Wall Street." (40:31)
  • Recent quarter: strong top and bottom line beat, inside store sales and prepared food up, fuel margins expanding, continued store openings.

• Management Caution on Guidance:

  • No full-year raise yet; standard for Casey’s, but a positive update likely later.
  • “I wasn’t deterred at all, viewing this negative response to Casey’s overwhelmingly positive quarter as a potential buying opportunity for you.” (42:23)

• Customer Data & Sophisticated Operations:

  • 10M+ rewards members drive smart merchandising (ex. returning the BBQ brisket pizza).

• Cramer’s Call:

  • “After this quarter I remain very much in the bull camp on Casey’s and it seems like the market agrees...” (43:39)

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5. Lightning Round Highlights & Listener Q&A (44:30–46:00)

• Coca Cola (KO):
  • “James Quincy’s stock is actually coming down, now selling at a market multiple. Quincy’s a really great CEO. It’s one of the few consumer packaged goods stocks that work. That’s my pick.” (12:37)
• CrowdStrike (CRWD):
  • “I think CrowdStrike is in. I think it’s a crouching tiger. That’s what I think it is. And I’m thinking this stock is a five hundred dollar stock.” (38:20)
• United Health (UNH):
  • Cramer is wary due to government investigations but notes some buyers betting the worst is over.

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6. Speculative Stocks & Changing Market Patterns (46:00–End)

• Embracing “Spec”:

  • Shift in Cramer’s stance on speculation post-Palantir:
    “With the advent of meme stocks... everything changed when the stock of Palantir arrived. The defense-oriented software company...rally from around $35 a year ago to $162 today...” (46:00)

• Key Spec Plays Currently:

  • Palantir (PLTR): Cramer maintains a $200+ target, sees it as a core “supercharger.”
  • Joby, Oclo, Nebulus: Newer disruptive tech stocks, often ignored until a headline/contract causes a major surge.
    • “There’s never been a market like this, people. It’s certainly going much higher than anyone would reasonably expect. And that money can be yours for the taking.” (End)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Buyback Edge:
  “Buybacks drain the excess supply from the system. It seems they are draining a lot less than they were just a few months ago.” — Jim Cramer (03:13)
• On Apple’s Strength:
  “13% in a year after new iPhone launch. That’s what I call real money. I like Apple. I like those launch statistics. And now I have one more reason to tell you to own it, not trade it.” (12:08)
• On AV’s Growth:
  “AV’s prospects for growth and value creation has never been better.” — Waheed Nuabi, AV CEO (15:25)
• On Speculation:
  “Speculative plays do deserve a place in your portfolio... One Palantir... can supercharge your entire returns. And not just for days or months, but even for years.” — Cramer (46:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment | |-------------|----------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:14–12:47 | Buyback edge & "aristocrats" discussion, Apple & Wells Fargo | | 13:48–23:08 | AeroVironment CEO Waheed Nuabi interview | | 24:19–38:00 | Speculative stocks analysis (Alstair, Rocket Lab, Oclo, APP) | | 39:46–44:30 | Casey's General Stores results & analysis | | 44:30–46:00 | Listener Q&A & Lightning Round | | 46:00–End | Commentary on speculation, Palantir, and new investing patterns|

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Overall Tone & Final Takeaways

Cramer brings his trademark mix of enthusiasm, expertise, and straight talk—demystifying research trends, cutting through market noise, and urging listeners to remain opportunistic, but wise. He hammers home that real edges—such as consistent buybacks, pragmatic speculation, and disciplined stock picking—are key to success in the current market environment. “Buy when it isn’t easy. Stick with winners. Don’t fear volatility when fundamentals and momentum align.”

"There’s money being made, alright. Much more Mad Money ahead."

Transcript

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[Jim Cramer]

Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Kramer. Otherwise, my friends, I'm just trying to make a little money. My job is not just entertain, but to explain all this stuff to teach it to you. So call me 1-800-743-CBC. Tweet me. Imkramer when you want to buy a stock, you need an edge. It's never enough to just say, you know what, it's time to buy xyz. I just feel it like the darn thing's a racehorse and you even know how to read the racing form. There are all sorts of ways to get an edge. I love an edge. Maybe Equality stocks dip because of an overall market decline. Maybe there's some headlines that were wrong. Maybe there's news that you think will be gigantic but others don't realize it. It pans out today with a Dow climb 196 points has to be advanced.27%. Nasdaq gained.37%. I want to talk to you about a new edge. A brief suggested by my friend Dave Costed. He's the chief US Equity strategist at Goldman Sachs and he's one of the most creative minds on the street. Now, I talk about Wall street research a lot and I have a history of carping about it, frankly. And you know what? That's wrong. Sometimes there's just great stuff out there that can really help you make a lot of money. Like this stuff. Costume puts out costume brainstorms and regularly comes up with some fabulous ideas that I like to incorporate into my thinking. He did at this point walk in the street. That's what this is from. His stuff is Essential reading today is this terrific piece. It's called the Fading Tailwind from Share Buybacks. I know it sounds to me this is like, you know, it's prurience. Whatever. The first paragraph carries the gist. Quote s and P 500 companies repurchase shares at a record pace in the first half of 2025. But buyback growth has recently stalled and quote he tells us, quote S&P 500 buybacks in the first half of 2025 totaled nearly $550 billion for 90 billion net of equity issuance. However, buybacks in the second quarter of 2025 were flat year over year for the S&P 500, the Magnificent 7 and the S&P 493. End quote. So buybacks, while strong in the first half started to fade. It faded a bit last quarter. Buybacks are integral to the market because they act as what I call a SOP. If there are lots of new shares added via IPOs but not a lot of new money coming to the market, then it stands to reason that stocks will head lower. Look, it is just a question of supply and demand. Let's not outthink this. Buybacks drain the excess supply from the system. It seems they are draining a lot less than they were just a few months ago. Ah, Carson has some great news here. While buybacks have slowed, investors continue to reward companies that aggressively purchase their own shares. And there's your edge. Stocks with bountiful buybacks can do well here in contrast to those that might not. It's an edge. It's not foolproof, but it's certainly an arrow in your stock picking quiver. And the market is so hard, you need things like this. Let's go to the next level. There are some caveats that he gives you. The one big beautiful bill will broadly help increase corporate cash flows. Positive. Because Costa is worried about surging Capex, meaning companies spending on new plant equipment. Now, I don't mind that. But you know what? I do want these buybacks to continue. Which brings me to the best part of this kind of analysis and the entire report. It's the introduction of Carson's list of buyback aristocrats. Now, you might have heard about dividend risks for companies that consistently increase the dividends for 25 years or more costs. Buyback aristocrats have reduced their share counts by 1% or more in at least nine of the past 10 years. Given the throttling back of the buyback ratio, these stocks could rise to a premium versus the rest of the market. And Constance buyback aristocrats typically outperform when the economy slows. Hey, like we're seeing right now. So which of his buyback aristocrats are the best of the best? Now, this is what I like to do because I am a stock picker. I like to go through these lists and there's a number of names I'm looking for stocks that I'm already a fan of that I think can go higher off their own fundamentals. Now, there are a whole bunch of characteristics the cost and chooses to accentuate. But I'm gravitating to the column that highlights the average annual change in share count during the past 10 years. This is the hard part in terms of just closing your eyes and buying stocks that have large share count shrinkage. David is number one. Now this is a kidney dialysis company that has indeed retired 9% of its share count annually for the last last 10 years. That's big. But you see, it's not something I want to buy with RFK Jr. Anywhere near the specialty medicine business. Second is ebay. Now, it's intriguing. Just put a good quarter. That is not enough for me because I fear the old ebay coming back. It has retired stock at a 9% crypto. Then up next is Synchrony Financial, that's a credit card issuer which is retired 7% of its shares per year. Tempting. No, because see, I prefer Capital One, which said this very day that it's stepping up share repurchasing this quarter. Oh, and then there's another one? Don't tempt me. It's HP, the printer and PC company that's put back 6% of its shares on average. No thanks. See, it keeps missing the quarter. A buyback can't cover up these kinds of snafus. Ah, but let's cut to one that I am predisposed to. Autozone. Az. Oh, the auto parts chain, which does very well in a slowdown because more people want to fix up their old car. Saves them money rather than have to go buy a new one. Autozone's got a legendary buyback. I checked out the share count over the last decade and it's astounding. Ten years ago it had roughly 31 million shares. Now it's less than 17 million shares. That's what happens when you're repurchasing at a clip of 6% every year. I like it. Hey, then there's another one. J Bill, a contract manufacturer for tech and health care. That's been sensational. Buy back stock at 5% annually. That's one worth looking into. Why? Because Celestica, a competitor, is killing it. I'm filing it away. I put it away for another time. Now we got to go down to the companies that have been buying back stock at a 4% clip annually to find the two that I want to pound the table on right here and right now. Now, Wells Fargo and Apple well spoke today at a conference. I liked everything I heard. Here's what we told club members. Quote, Wells has bought back $5.5 billion of its stock so far this quarter. That's the most the bank has bought back in a single quarter all year. By the way, that is a huge sign of confidence for CFO Michael Santa Massimo, who said that he's seeing green shoots now that the Fed's removed the asset cap penalty on Wells. I'd be a buyer if we didn't already own so much of it for my chapel trust. And I know Charlie Sharp is on tomorrow morning. I want to listen to him. He's the CEO and he's terrific. Then let's deal with the pachyderm in the room. Let's deal with Apple. Right? Here's a company that's addicted to buying back its own stock is just a serial repurchaser. Sign that. I think that management always thinks the stock is cheap, even if they don't come out and scream that the timing here for cost and turns out to be impeccable. Better be lucky than good. You know why? Because today happens to be the launch of the new Apple iPhone the 17 thinner, better, stronger. The iPhone air dazzled because of its thinness. There were price increases, not as noteworthy as I thought they'd be. They'll mostly be absorbed by the consumer in part because these phones are heavily subsidized by your wireless carrier. Just kind of don't feel it now. Apple stock was down 1.5% today. Not unusual as this has historically been a sell the news eventually sell, sell, sell. The stock's been down or just flat after this annual iPhone announcement in four out of the last five years people left it. Today wasn't the day. Well, it's not supposed to be. But get this. If you look at how Apple's done one year after the last five years worth of launches, it's rallied 13% on average and it was up in every single one of those years. There are lots of people who care about how Apple has done over the last hour, two hours or maybe how long it's taken me to talk some care even the next day. That's all nonsense. Let's make real money, okay? 13% in a year after new iPhone launch. That's what I call real money. I like Apple. I like those launch statistics. And now I have one more reason to tell you to own it, not trade it. Apple's buyback Aristocrat status Oracle's by the way, booming tech report tonight after the close one that swept up a lot of tech. This even could help reverse the negative action on Apple. Why? Because there's going to be a big pin action trade for tech. I think Apple gets swept up in it. Let me give you the bottom line. You need fortitude to buy stocks to stick with them. Apple's buyback helps that fortitude. That year long increase. Wow, it's worth braving today's decline. Don't forget AutoZone J Bill and the incredibly inexpensive Wells Fargo. Bye bye bye. Christopher in West Virginia. Christopher. Booyah Kramer. Booyah Christopher. What? Chicken. Go Birds. Good win on Thursday night. Go Eagles. Go Eagles. We got my man the clock up in the center. Jalen Carter coming back. Had to pay a little bit of a fine error per game. But you know what? That's teaching maybe a lesson. What's going on? Calling about a follow up on Coca Cola Consolidated. We spoke last time and you weren't a fan of seeing if we had a change of heart. Well, see, here's the problem. Coca Cola. Yeah, it's a bottler, it's good. But you know what I like to buy Coca Cola. I think James Quincy, his stock is actually coming down, it's now selling at a market multiple. Quincy's a really great CEO. It's one of the few consumer packaged goods stocks that work. That's my pick. Look, it takes fortitude to buy stocks and stick with them. It's really hard to make a lot of money in the stock market. Apple's a great example though. Got a track record that makes it worth buying after launch and a buyback that makes it enticing for everyone. Only time drone maker Aero Environment LAV report after the bell and I'm running through the numbers with the CEO then close. Viewers know I'm more open to speculation as of late, certainly more than anybody else on tv. But some of the market's high flyers like oclo, Rocket Lab and Pullback. So what should you make of that action? I'm going to go off the charts to see what we stand and we are all about finding opportunity in any market. That's why I wrote a book about it. So tonight I'm covering an under the radar convenience store chain that you may not have heard of. Could be a winner for your portfolio. So stay with Kramer on Fox one.

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[Jim Cramer]

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[Podcast Disclaimer Narrator]

Summarizing meeting notes, finding files, managing your schedule, responding to Jim's long emails, leaving.

[Jim Cramer]

All the time in the world for the things you actually want to do. No offense Jim. Get A new Dell AI PC at Dell.com AI PC how those ahead Stay ahead. What do we make of These numbers? From AV, the drone oriented defense contractor formerly known as AeroVironment. These guys reported after the close mother quarter was solid with better than expected revenues, bookings and backlog. Management was also optimistic enough to raise their full year earnings forecast meaningfully. Now initially the stock got hit in after hours trading which is exactly what happened the last time AB reported three months ago before the stock went on to finish up more than 20% the very next day. And that was an incredible buying opportunity. Is it happening again? Just after the close, I got the chance to speak with Waheed Nuabi, the chairman, president, CEO of AV to find out. Take a look. Mr. Welcome back to Bad Money.

[Waheed Nuabi]

Jim. Great to be with you.

[Jim Cramer]

All right, so we got some work to do once again, Mohit, I remember if you, I don't recall what happened. You're on. Last time the stock dropped and then 100 points were made after we really kind of straightened it out. Now the headline numbers indicate 32 cents versus 35. You and I both know that is not an accurate depiction of this quarter. This quarter was an incredibly strong quarter. Could you walk us through why it's a stronger quarter than the headline numbers which are not indicative of how you did?

[Waheed Nuabi]

Absolutely, Jim. You called it right last several times. I've been on your show for a long time. I can very confidently say that AV prospects for growth and value creation has never been better. I've been here for 15 years and it's been the best I've ever seen it, number one. Number two, why is there such a strong belief in that is that the need for the type of solutions that we specialize in and we are experts in has never been greater. Never been greater. We have a national security priority and sense of urgency. It's, it's supported by both parties, by the administration. We have conflicts around the world. We've worked really hard to put this company together to position us for this type of growth and prosperity. We have had an outstanding quarter, Q1, nearly $455 million in revenue. We've got a $1.1 billion worth of bookings and backlog, backup backlog, and we've got $3.1 billion worth of unfunded backlog. These are contracts that are over time all going to convert and translate into funded backlog in revenue. These are the contracts that the customers are placed with us to allow us to actually deliver these systems to them over the next couple of three years, three years or so. So fantastic quarter, launched a lot of new products. Very, very excited about the growth and the performance that we've done so far.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay. So it's really important people recognize that when we read these stories about how Ukraine's got inexpensive drones, that North Korea is inexpensive Iran, that the kind of thing you're working on, the anti drone is comes in well underneath them and is more Effective. Tell us how that project's going.

[Waheed Nuabi]

Absolutely. If you look at our portfolio, it's really unmatched in the entire defense industry, to our knowledge, to our experience. We make drones, we make counter drones, we make RF jamming systems against drones. We make directed energy and laser systems for that we have space communication and lasers for that directed energy. We've got loading munitions, we have one way attack drones. And we have the most prolific suite of software solutions that connects all these with AI and autonomy. And we just launched that product called AB Halo Ecosystem. It's a very large and integrated portfolio of solutions that connects all these systems with existing legacy systems as well as the future unmanned systems that are out there. So our solution set is unmatched in industry. We have expertise in the industry and in the field. We've got decades of proven, proven products in the field by the tens of thousands that are actually relevant on today's fight every day. And our customers are incredibly satisfied with our systems. And we have this pending threat with China, Russia and other adversaries that's not getting better. And the US is behind. And we need companies like US AV to step up and actually scale production, which we have uniquely the capacity and capability to do so as well. So those are the key reasons why we feel so strong about our business. And we've really worked hard to build this over the last decade to position us.

[Jim Cramer]

But such growth, we've been working together on this. I mean, the whole time I felt that the Pentagon was not in favor of what you were doing. Because the Pentagon does favor manned missions, manned pilots, a whole suite of planes that cost hundreds of millions of dollars that can be shot down way too easily, unfortunately. So then we have to have triple redundancy, which makes it even more expensive. I prefer your method. It looks like they're coming around now. Tell me about Golden Dome.

[Waheed Nuabi]

So we just announced a partnership, strategic partnership with Sierra Nevada Corporation, which is another very, very capable and very credible company in this area that we today we actually put our teams together and invested our own funds, our own money to develop a solution. Said that I can address that. Golden Dome demand and requirement and objective for the country. We have the pieces of the solution that allows us to take over to go to our critical sites and the government or customers can actually specifically tell us which sites. And we provide a layered limited defense solution set for those sites. We have the drones for surveillance. We've got satellite communication systems and laser communications. We have directed energy solutions. We have the software that allows us to track all these Threats against hypersonics, against drones, against missiles. So we have the 80% solution today off the shelf without any additional investments from the government that we can go ahead and implement immediately. We will even commit that we will take a contract to get a site up and running operationally and defend it and, and deliver on the performance specifications by the end of this calendar year.

[Jim Cramer]

This calendar extraordinary now.

[Waheed Nuabi]

Well, I am really, I'm very excited about that.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay, Now I do want to know about something that happened last weekend. We, we saw an attack. A Russia. Russia hit Ukraine with the largest aerial attack in the war so far, which included, by the way, more than 800 attack drones. If you were there with everything you have, what could you have done to try to stop that attack?

[Waheed Nuabi]

Well, and unfortunately, because of the sensitivity of this mission, with these missions, I can't go into the specifics of that particular mission. What I can tell you, Jim, which is important, is that the solutions that we have will enable the United States and our allies to defend quite successfully against such an attack that happened in Russia with the Ukrainians. We have the technology today to defend our sights. That's why we feel very strongly that on a Golden Dome situation and for that objective, we can implement that solution today with already developed investments that we've made over the last decade to protect our sites, to protect our nuclear weapons sites, to protect our forward operating bases, military bases, critical infrastructure sites. These are things that we have to protect. It's not a matter of when, it's a matter of when. The sooner we get on with this, the better. I commend the President for taking that initiative, the department for going after it. We're ready to actually help and deliver the solution and implement.

[Jim Cramer]

One last question. I did want to ask you about Red Dragon because you have been saying it's designed to be mass produced, affordable. Those who think that we don't know how to make an inexpensive but terrific drone, they're wrong. Right? Given what I just heard about Red Dragon.

[Waheed Nuabi]

Absolutely. We have designed that product from the ground up to be not only low cost, but also mass producible and also autonomous capable. So it could actually operate successfully. And very, very contested battle spaces like the Ukraine battle space. This is a capability that we have today that we could scale. And it, it's inexpensive, it's affordable, it allows us to have swarms of these by the tens of thousands against our adversaries all around the globe. It will give us a competitive edge in the battlefield and we need to act on these things. And I think I commend the department. The U.S. army is taking very significant steps to modernize and transform and we're talking to them and working with them and I think solutions such as Red Dragon is going to be part of that solution set for the future.

[Jim Cramer]

Excellent. I want to thank Mr. Nuabi for coming on. And again, once again, the headline numbers are not how you should react to this stock. You should react to what he just said in this interview just like he did last time when the Stock then had 100 point move. Don't let, don't be fooled by a headline writer. You number thank you so much. Mr. W. Good to see you.

[Waheed Nuabi]

Thank you Jim.

[Jim Cramer]

Great to be with you again. May have money back here for the break.

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[Jim Cramer]

Lately, some of the hottest, most speculative stocks in this market have pulled back from their highs. And I think it's worth taking a closer look to see if they might be worth buying on weakness. Now, I'm talking about anything related to rockets, autonomous driving, nuclear power, the kind of unprofitable but high growth stock that they've dominated for much of the year. But not lately. That's why tonight we're going off the charts for the help of Bob Lang. Yes, Bob, the founder of explosive options.net as well as the author of Know your Options. We're going to dig deeper now. Personally, I'm a big believer in speculation. Know that as long as it's done wisely, which means you got to take some profits on the way up. You got to know when to cut Your losses when something goes wrong. But I bless it because so much money can be made. So let's go through the charts. Some of the biggest speculative winners of the year, most of which have now pulled back from their highs with the exception of Applovin which made a new high today. If we found out was being added to the S&P 500 last week, we're going to start with one that I don't talk about. It's called Alster and this makes 3D lidar sensors use sensors used for autonomous vehicles, drones, robotics mapping and defense. Something has been described as physical AI. When you look at the daily chart, this one is just one of lag's favorites. Even though Alistair has come down from its August highs. Remember, look at ones that have come off. He points out that the stock's still in a beautiful uptrend with a series of higher highs. Okay. And higher lows. Meanwhile, Alistair's volume trends have been incredibly bullish. It tends to have a higher volume on up days and lower volume on down days. For example, during the recent sell off we've seen very low volume. Now that Alstair has pulled back to just above its 50 day moving average right there. Lang thinks you're getting perfect buying opportunity right here, right now. What makes them so bullish? For starters, I want you to take a look at the on balance volume line. This is down at the bottom. Okay. Look at this thing. Okay. This is a volume based technical indicator that uses a running total of trading volume to predict price changes. Adding volume on up days, subtracting on down days to gauge buying and selling pressure. Really cool indicator frankly. And as you can see, Alstair's on balance volume has been exploding perfect even as the stocks come down at the same time, Lang spotted signs of institutional buying. Plus it doesn't hurt that Alster reported a very strong quarter with a healthy guide up last month. Of course the stock is definitely not cheap, but as of history being extremely volatile. But if Alster can rebound back to its old highs in the mid-30s, Lang thinks it could eventually run all the way to 45, maybe 50 by early next year. We've had a market's been very friendly for speculative stocks. You know that that's for most of the past year and really the last five years. It's work and nothing's really changed. Alstair is likely remain a winner. This would be a good stock. In my book how to make Money in any Market, I talk about having a speculative stock. This would be the kind of thing that I would say, you know what, off. It's kind of off the beaten path, but it's going to be right next. Here's another one that's really interesting. Rocket Lab with its lightweight orbital rockets. Now here's the stock that spent most of the summer ripping higher for the company, received a large grant from the government and had some successful rocket launches. However, the stock ran out of steam in July and since then it's gradually come off its highs, mostly trading sideways for the past two months. This is this consolidation that sometimes I know that Bob likes very much. Of course. Lang puts out the rock Market Labs still up roughly 220% from its April lows. Its rallies mainly occur in heavy buy. This is one of those stocks that's beloved by younger retail investors. Although Lang thinks it's starting to attract interest from big institutional money managers too. He sees the stock's recent pullback to the 50 day. 50 day moving average. Sorry to use the short end as another chance to buy the dip. And I know many probably the dip. But in this world in the speculative that is a diplomat. When you look at the action of the summer, Rockland pulled back hard, then rebound dramatically on high volume a few weeks ago before cooling off again. When you look at the on balance volume again, we're going down here. Okay. And also the moving average convergence divergence which right here you get some really good buy interest. It is due. This is a $47 stock that could move above $60 in short order. I like that move. And you know what? If the Fed gets aggressive cutting about interest rates, all these speculative names are just going to run roar higher. So let's put. Let's think about Rocket Lab. That one looks very right. Then there's one that you know I like and I talk about all the time. That's oclo. Ok. Ello. It designs compact nuclear reactors that can be built more quickly. Everybody loves nuclear these days because it's the most reliable way to generate clean energy. And we are desperate for electricity thanks to the AI data center wave. As a matter of fact, it's the gating factor for video. You need more power. That's why Oculus had such a huge run from its lows in April to its highs in early August. Just take a look at the daily chart here. This is pretty amazing. We've got a series of higher highs and higher lows. Laying the groundwork for a classic uptrend. Even though has pulled back from its highs, Lang points out the volume trends remain bullish and the stock Was he bounced off its 50 day moving average. You see this theme again. He loves it when they bounce off the 50 day. And then that's going to be a springboard. It's still down from its high, which is pretty very unusual for a speculative stock. This could be well positioned even as you probably think, wait a second, didn't I miss it? That's not the way it works. Like the others, the on balance volume here is solid and it's trending higher. Meanwhile, the MACD line. Look at this. We got a crossover right here. Bullish crossover where the black line crosses over the red. That's good. That counts. That counts. And where the. And that's one of the most reliable positive indicators out there. There. Of course, with the recent decline, Oculus now got got a downtrend line in place. The Lang's betting the stock can break through that level in part because get this, the short interest, this one has gotten very high. People betting against it right now it's about 15 to 17% of the entire float of the stock. When too many short sellers bet against these speculative names, the meme stock crowd knows that they love to gang up on the shorts. As we remember from Gamestop, it's relentless buying in order to break the backs of the shorts. Basically just under 74 bucks. And as long as it can get back above its previous high at 85, well, like says, you got smooth sailing to the triple digits. Triple digits. All right, now, finally, let's talk about the one speculative stock that hasn't cooled off at all. And therefore you may not like it that much. And that's App Loven, the digital advertising play that we learned was joining the S&P 500 last Friday. This stock spent months rallying relentlessly to the point where it exploded higher yesterday and made another new high today. The last quarter was phenomenal. Applovin's earnings should be more than double this year. I mean, I don't want to tell you what I'm thinking about for next year though. The stock's far from cheap. At roughly 60 times this year's earnings estimates, it will turn out to be cheap if we do get the numbers that I'm thinking about for next year. Really interesting pattern here. I've been worried that Applovin might pull back a bit now that it's finally added to the 50 to the spot 500, something its shareholder base has been predicting for months. But the darn thing just won't stop. Lang points out that we just got this bullish crossover in the Macd this is one of the most beautiful crossovers I've seen. While the on balance volume. Look at this. William remains robust. Stock recently bounced very hard off the 50 day. Remember I told you he loves a hard bounce off the 50 day. What can I even say about Apple Stock was up 700% last year. It's now up about 70% year to date. Lang's betting it will keep rallying without looking back. I think this is a mini Google. Here's the bottom line. The charts interpreted by Bob Lang suggested speculative stocks like Alstair, Rocket Lab and Outlook can get their group back. While Apple is just going to continue to roar. I think he makes a very compelling case. Although at the end of the day speculative names do tend to trade together. But as long as the market remains friendly to speculation, these four got to keep running. Just keep in mind that the market won't stay like that forever. But why not make the money when you can? I'm going. I'm going to the show Me state. I'm going to Jerry in Missouri. Jerry. Hey Jim, thanks for taking my call. Oh, my pleasure Jerry. What's up Jim? I don't understand why we are battling cybersecurity stocks after last quarter's report this cyber stock drop significantly because the club's price target of $520. Still valid on CrowdStrike? You bet it is. And I think George is doing. I'm speaking here of George Kurtz. There's a great interview by the way. Yahoo Finance just tells you all that you need to know. I think CrowdStrike is in. I think it's a crouching tiger. That's what I think it is. And I'm thinking this stock is a five hundred dollar stock. That's how much I like clouds. Right? The charts as interpreted by Bob Lang suggest that these speculative names will indeed get their route back in short order. While Apple often just continues to plow higher. What can I say? Just remember that the market won't necessarily stay this friendly to speculative stocks. But I gotta tell you something, there's money being made, alright. Much more man money had Casey. General stores have become one of our favorite under the radar growth stories over the past few years. And after reporting a top and bottom line beat, does the story still have legs? I'm giving my take. Hey, then Palantir, change the face of speculation. This market, I'm discussing its impact and how to size up the other potential winners. And once again here comes Palantir. And of course all your calls. Rapid Fire. Tonight's edition of Lightning around, so stay with Kramer. Last night we got the latest set of numbers from Casey's General Stores, which is a chain of 2900 roadside convenience stores across 19 states, mostly located in very small towns. Now, I have been a big unmitigated fan of Casey's for a couple of years now because they found this great niche. There's a reason the Stock's up almost 2400% over the past 20 years. These guys intentionally target smaller markets where their gas stations, convenience stores with fresh hot food can become a big draw. And that's what's turned Casey's into a spectacular regional to national growth story. It's also, by the way, why the stock always seems to fly under the radar on Wall Street. Most people in the financial industry have never seen a Casey's with its stores mostly in the Midwest and Southeast. And they certainly haven't tried its absolutely fantastic breakfast pizza. They basically take this bacon, egg and cheese sandwich into of piece a pizza and well, you know what, it works. I tried it for the first time over the summer. It is legitimately great. And I'm from Jersey where like, you know, I'm a Taylor ham guy now. The Stock's now up 94%. 94% since I started pushing this thing two years ago, trouncing the S&P 500, which is why I keep going back to the well with this one. However, after the stock soared in response to earnings in early June, Casey spent most of the summer trading sideways. As we weighed the company's earnings last night, it was off about 10 points from July highs. If is that was still up 30% for the year. That's one reason why Casey's initially got very little love after reported last night the actual quarterly results, they were excellent. Excellent. We're talking a healthy top and bottom line beat with 11.5% revenue growth as every individual business line came in stronger than expected. Casey's inside same store sales were up 4.3%. Wall street is only looking for 3.6% with prepared food coming in much better than expected for the fuel business. Same store gallons sold were up. Interesting metric. We're up 1.7%. The analyst looking for 0.3% growth will take volume growth any day when it comes to fuel. Casey saw some nice margin expansion too, which is how the company could deliver a clean 75 cent earnings speed of a $5.02 basis. That's huge. It's nearly 20% earnings growth led by the strength of their inside the store business, meaning the convenience Store, not the gas station. Meaning those breakfast pizzas. Same store sales and prepared food were up nearly 6%. Wow. I mean, that's incredible. But that isn't just breakfast pizza. They also have sandwiches, wraps, sandwiches, wraps, wings, salads, fresh cookies, which was. Cookies are very good. But CEO Dan Rebellious also called out, quote, positive traffic growth due to our summer merchandising plan as well as our team's outstanding execution, demonstrating our ability to serve our guests efficiently at a high level, end quote. You know these guys mean this stuff. On top of that, he said that the company's fuel team quote, did a tremendous job achieving same store gallon growth while maintaining a healthy fuel margin, end quote. I know Fuel team. Hey, listen, they got the best fuel team. What can I say? Thanks to the company's steady delivery expansion plans, Casey's also benefiting from operating over 200 more stores than it did a year ago. Put it all together, and I think you've got some excellent numbers. Okay. All right. But there was one minor issue with the quarter, which is that management merely maintain their full year forecast rather than raising it. I've said that that's often a problem, but let's unpack this. For many on Wall street, it's de facto guide down because they they just report a better expected quarter and they didn't raise their guidance to jest. Specifically, Casey continues to expect inside same store sales to increase 2% to 5% this year with the quote, inside margin of roughly 41%. Same store fuel gallons sold are still expected to be negative 1% to positive 1%. Total operating expenses are still expected to increase by 8 to 10%. And Casey's plans to open at least 80 stores in fiscal 2026 through a combination of M and A and new construction. This outlook was not necessarily disappointing on its own. It was totally in line with what the analysts were looking for going into the quarter. But given the case suggested a big top bottom line beat for the quarter. It was a bummer when they left their forecast for the rest of the year unchanged. And that's why the stock got dinged a little bit at the opening today. Let's go through this. I wasn't deterred at all, viewing this negative response to Casey's overwhelmingly positive quarter as a potential buying opportunity for you. As I said on Squawk on the street this morning, I was down. Why? First, let's tackle that unchanged guidance issue head on. While I obviously would have loved to see cases raise its full year forecast, the company's only one quarter into its 2026 fiscal year for most publicly traded companies its standard operating procedure to not raise their full year forecast after just 1/4 unless the numbers are insanely strong. On this morning's conference call, Casey CFO Steve Bramwidge laid it all out. Quote, consistent with our past practice, we plan to update annual guidance on our second earnings quarter call when we're through the seasonally largest time of the year, end quote. There, just said it. Okay. A couple and has tried to specifically suss out whether the lack of a guidance increase indicated any extra costs from Casey's management. The answer was basically no, not really. Management simply reiterated that they'll provide an update on their outlook for the second quarter which is the way they do it when there's quote more visibility into the balance of the year, end quote. Hey, that's fine with me, especially given the company's great tracker. It should be fine with you. It's the chance to buy it without the the what I think is going to be a guide up next quarter. Now there was plenty of other positive commentary too because behind its folksy veneer this company is a very sophisticated operator. For example, the summer merchandising effort I mentioned earlier was a true Casey's wide team effort with coordination between quote supply chain and fuel teams and every member in between, end quote. And a rebel has mentioned that their data and insights which are gathered from their nearly 10 million cases rewards members help inform merchandising efforts along with the company's pricing strategy and even decisions like bringing back a popular limited time only LTO barbecue brisket pizza which I also had and I got to tell you is management also said it's taking market share in fuel and it's doing so without sacrificing margins. I told you had a good fuel team. It's all very impressive. And after this quarter I remain very much in the book camp on Casey's and it seems like the market agrees. After trading lower for most of the day, Casey shares did catch fire in the afternoon rally about 25 points the final two hours of trading to close the day up almost 20 bucks or nearly 4%. That's why that morning call was so important. Okay, so here's the bottom line. Last night we got another terrific quarter from Casey General, one of my absolute favorite under the radar growth stocks. You could buy this one and put it away. While the stock initially did react because management left their full year forecast unchanged, I think they only did that because they feel it irresponsible to raise their guidance after just one quarter as Many companies do. They don't want to get ahead of themselves. But everything's going great in cases and the market eventually got this one right. Still, after today's gains, you know what? I think there's much more upside to come back for a break. It is time to jump to the White rail conference. Rock front and folks name is Don said bye bye. Bye. No course, don't question, don't miss it. First and foremost, how you play this down and then the lightning round is over. Are you ready? Steve Dice, have a lightroom cruise. Let's start with Justin in Marlon. Justin. Hey, Jim, how are you? I'm good, Justin. How you doing? Pretty good, pretty good. What do you got for me? So I was calling today because. Because I want your take on mortgage rates with the potential of falling interest rates. I read that this benefits and any. I'm sorry, what? Any. Any mortgage rate in particular? No, I don't like agency. I think you're going to find over time you're just going to get your money. You get the dividend. You're never sure what they really own. It is not a growth vehicle. I like growth. Now we're going to go to Ian in Florida. Ian, hey. Booyah. Jim, how you doing? I'm doing well, Ian, how about you? I'm doing excellent, Jim. Thank you. Jim, want to ask you a question about a stock that's really been beat up for a while now, but it's starting to make a comeback. What do you think about unh here? Okay. Unh. Reminds me, I don't want to say now there's too much to Google, but you know, with government gets involved, you do get very, very nervous if something's really wrong. But United Health has been going up. If there's something really wrong, I think the CEO at this point would have disclosed it. They did talk about the rankings today. The rankings are good. What can I say? I don't like to buy stocks that are under investigation. But it does seem to be that. Well, I don't say the worst is over because it might not be. But there are some people who seem to know that the worst is over. How about that? And that, ladies and gentlemen, conclusion of the lightning round. For years I've hesitated to embrace speculation on the show because so often the most beloved speculative stocks turned out to be nothing more than well disguised pump and dump evers. Sure, with the advent of meme stocks, you could own a game stock or an AMC entertainment. Let others take you out higher. Although to me again, those seem like sophisticated pump and dump operations too. But everything changed when the stock of Palantir arrived. The defense oriented software company that relies heavily on artificial intelligence saw its stock rally from around from $35 a year ago to $162 today on the strength of a series of very strong reports that vastly exceeded projections. Real stuff. I've been around for a while and it really isn't easy to spot new patterns. But as I say in how to make money in any market, the speculative plays do deserve a place in your portfolio. One palantir, which I continue to say will go above $200, can supercharge your entire returns. And not just for days or months, but even for years. When I saw the saga of Palantir unfold, I realized there had been a sea change in this market. A new cohort of investors welcomed stocks with fantastic stories. And they keep buying those stocks for a long time after the news broke. Stock, historically good news would produce a ripple in a stock. But now it's a flood. And it's almost like an endless flood. After Palantir, I got hit with a host of spec stocks and blessed them all. There was Joby, the flying car company. It was in the sevens. I dismissed it earlier, but I discovered that Boeing has been working on a flying car too. So who was I dismissed the idea. The stock almost tripled soon after that. Then viewers urged me to focus on nuclear power. When I looked up, when I looked over the hoop, I found one that seemed like a serious spec. Oclo, which is building small form nuclear reactors. Given the high demand for electricity thanks to the data center build out, which we heard just again tonight with Oracle and the fact that OCLO is a company with significant customer interest. I decided to spend my suspend my critical judgment and I told you that it might take only one positive headline for this stock to rock. And sure enough, a $33 stock gapped up when it was selected for a DoD contract. I don't think it's done going higher. Sometimes though, you have a winner right in front of your face and you don't realize it. When I was at Nvidia's big GTC conference in San Jose last year, I was checking out the booth of all those companies that were working with Nvidia installing product in the data centers. Companies like HP Enterprise, Dell and at the end of the hall and what seemed to me to be a pretty empty boost to this company, Nebius is a data center builder like Core Weave. I felt bad for them, like no one was paying any attention to it. But so I asked what they did. I sauntered over there, they filled me in. They were going to be a part of the power solution. I thanked them. Never really thought about it again until yesterday, when the company won a $17 billion contract to build a data center for Microsoft in Violin, New Jersey, a town I knew well because my father took me there when I was a little boy when he sold boxes and bags to the retailers there. Sure enough, Nebulous, which had been creeping up, bolted from $64 to nearly $96 today in a colossal move. Move. Napius, it turns out, used to be a part of Yandex Controversial Russia story spun out from the index. Nebulous is controversial no more. It's just electric, literally. And it reminded me that in this market, you better keep your eyes open for speculative stocks that work. There's lots of money chasing speculative stocks now, so when you get a good headline, you have no idea how high the stock in question can go. There's never been a market like this, people. It's certainly going much higher than anyone would reasonably expect. And that money can be yours for the taking. Alex. Always more market somewhere. And I promise everybody just for you right here made money. I'm Jim Cramer. See you tomorrow.

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