Summary4 min read

Squawk on the Street – “Cramer's Morning Take: Nvidia 11/21/24”

Podcast: Squawk on the Street
Hosts: Jim Cramer, Carl Quintanilla, David Faber
Date: November 21, 2024
Main Focus: Market reaction to Nvidia’s latest earnings and the general state of the morning markets

Episode Overview

This episode features Jim Cramer and Jeff Marks (filling in for the CNBC Investing Club), analyzing the market’s volatile response to Nvidia’s latest earnings report. They discuss market psychology, the challenges investors face interpreting company guidance, and why the market is “grading hard” given stellar year-to-date performance. The tone is urgent, candid, and analytical—blending up-to-the-minute stock action with wider observations about current trading behavior.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Highly Volatile Market Psychology

Jim Cramer describes market behavior as confused and “scalper oriented,” where day traders rapidly take profits on any gains rather than investing for the long term.
The market remains defensive, with many quick sellers unless a stock seems “bulletproof.”

“I'm seeing a market does want to go higher. I'm seeing a market that basically says if we have gains, let's take them. It's a very scalper oriented market.” — Jim Cramer [00:19]
Even positive stock moves are frequently met with swift reversals, especially for high-profile names like Nvidia.

2. Nvidia’s Earnings: Strong Results, But Tough Crowd

Nvidia’s most recent earnings were “very strong,” prompting sharp pre-market moves.
Despite revenue and guidance beats, investors didn’t seem impressed for long, as initial gains quickly reversed.
Cramer calls this reaction “hard grading”—the market has adjusted expectations sky-high after Nvidia’s ~200% YTD run.

“It's graded so hard because it's up almost 200% year to date... Yet it was still beats and guidance was above expectations. But you know, no one really knows—is 1 billion enough, 2 billion enough, half a billion enough?” — Jeff Marks [02:04]

3. Complicated Conference Calls = Investor Confusion

Cramer likens Nvidia’s conference call to a tough class in school:

“We all remember our classes, maybe high school or college, if it's a hard class and you're being graded hard, you're going to go to another place, maybe different class. I think there are people who are on that call and they gave up. They didn't understand it and they moved on and therefore they were trading blindly.” — Jim Cramer [01:29]
Some investors didn’t grasp the details, leading to knee-jerk trading after earnings.

4. Nvidia: Fundamentals Remain Strong

Despite market skittishness, Nvidia delivered:
- More shipments of its new Blackwell chips than expected.
- No overheating concerns.
- Demand expected to outstrip supply through fiscal 2026.
- Ongoing momentum in sovereign AI and cloud initiatives.
Nvidia management downplayed concerns that AI growth is stalling.

“Demand expected to exceed supply for several quarters in fiscal 26... there was this concern about maybe these large language models have kind of reached like a critical mass that they're stalling out. But they downplayed that as well.” — Jeff Marks [02:35]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the speed and psychology of trading:

“There’s a lot of scalping going on in the name... the conference call was really good. But it was hard...therefore they were trading blindly.” — Jim Cramer [01:18]
About market expectations for Nvidia:

“The market is used to, you know, upside on revenues by multiple billion...But you know, no one really knows—is 1 billion enough, 2 billion enough, half a billion enough?” — Jeff Marks [02:09]
On rumors about AI plateauing:

“Sovereign AI initiatives gaining momentum, the cloud customers taking whatever they can really get their hands on. And then...there was this concern about maybe these large language models have kind of reached like a critical mass...But they downplayed that as well.” — Jeff Marks [02:35]

Important Segment Timestamps

Market volatility and scalping explained: 00:00–00:44
Nvidia’s earning run and initial spike: 00:44–01:16
Investor confusion over conference call complexity: 01:16–02:04
Breakdown of Nvidia’s results and market expectations: 02:04–02:58

Episode Summary

This episode captures a fraught moment on Wall Street: even undeniable strong corporate results can’t guarantee stock gains in a market crowded with short-term profit-takers and investors who may not fully grasp company guidance. Nvidia remains a star performer fundamentally, but sky-high expectations mean even “beats” are heavily scrutinized. Cramer and Marks deliver a sharp, real-time dissection of market mood and how complexity can lead to confusion—and volatility. This is a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand not just Nvidia, but the psychology of today’s stock market.

For more detailed morning analysis, Cramer suggests visiting cnbc.com/morningtake.

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Transcript6 lines

[00:00]
A
Foreign Jim Cramer. And you're about to hear a sample taken directly from today's CNBC Investing Club morning meeting. We have a very confused market, Jeff, because if you have a stock that goes up after being down a lot like in video, and it goes up a couple of bucks and there's like heat seeking missiles going against it, what I'm seeing is more and it knocks it back down. I'm seeing a market does want to go higher. I'm seeing a market that basically says if we have gains, let's take them. It's a very scalper oriented market. And so what happens is, is that as long as yields are the same, you have people come in if you want to exit. But right now we have a lot of exits. Unless a stock is bulletproof, it gets sellers.
[00:44]
B
Yeah, it's a pretty volatile morning. I mean Nvidia is a prime example of that. Down last night up pre market, you know, I think it got as high as maybe 2 or 3% up just today and now back down 1%. So you know, it's digesting the earnings report last night, which by the way, very strong quarter. Right.
[01:05]
A
I mean let's look at this. Okay, so this morning it's at 140. Right. And I'm commenting on it very early, following on Twitter or whatever. Yeah. Then it goes all the way up here. And at this point I say wait, well not 160. I said, guys, it can't be that good. Don't come in and buy it up because you don't want to buy it up because there's a lot of people who bought it at 141, 140 and they want to just make a quick profit. There's a lot of scalping going on in the name and that's because, Jeff, I know this sounds strange but the conference call was really good. But it was hard. And when you take, we all remember our classes, maybe high school or college, if it's a hard class and you're being graded hard, you're going to go to another place, maybe different class. I think there are people who are on that call and they gave up. They didn't understand it and they moved on and therefore they were trading blindly. It's now we have, I think the model that best are your Bolton best explains what's great about yes in English.
[02:05]
B
Yeah, I mean look, it's graded so hard because it's up almost 200% year to date. The market is used to, you know, upside on revenues by multiple billion. Same thing with guidance multiple billion and what they do. Yet it was still beats and guidance was above expectations. But you know, no one really knows it's 1 billion enough, 2 billion enough, half a billion enough. But in terms of the story, they ship more Blackwell than they thought in the quarter. Overheating not a concern. Demand expected to exceed supply for several quarters in fiscal 26. That's for the Blackwell sovereign AI initiatives gaining momentum, the cloud customers taking whatever they can really get their hands on. And then over the last couple of weeks there was this concern about maybe these large language models have kind of reached like a critical mass that they're stalling out. But they downplayed that as well.
[02:58]
A
Start your day with my outlook on the daily market Every morning at 10:20am Visit cnbc.com/morning take to access all the benefits of being a CNBC Investing Club.
[03:10]
C
Member all opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast and in connection with the CNBC Investing Club are solely Kramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal or their parent company or affiliates and may have been previously disseminated by Kramer on television, radio, Internet or another medium. No specific outcome or profit is guaranteed in connection with your reliance upon or other use of the content from Kramer. The opinions offered in connection with this podcast and the CNBC Investing Club are not an attempt to induce any particular trading behavior, investment or strategy. You should be aware of the risk of loss in following any strategy or investment discussed in the content from Kramer. To view the full CNBC Investing Club disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com investingclubdisclaimer.