CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Friday that investors should be ready to find buying opportunities in the stock market with earnings season in full swing.
When companies report quarterly results, market players digest numbers quickly and Wall Street tends to make many mistakes, he said, pointing to trading action in Honeywell and American Express as an example.
“There will be reports next week that are met with negativity and not all of them will be genuinely bad, so I’m urging you to take advantage of that weakness,” the “Mad Money” host said.
With household brand names like Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks and Amazon set to report, it’s shaping up to be the most brutal stretch of earnings season, he added.
“As we head into the next five days of earnings, you need to think about what gets crushed as much as what is working because this market’s creating some unbelievable buying opportunities,” Cramer said.
Cramer gave his game plan for the week ahead. Earnings-per-share projections are based on FactSet estimates:
Monday: Tesla
- Q1 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5:30 p.m.
- Projected EPS: 75 cents
- Projected revenue: $10.48 billion
“These numbers impact more than just Tesla itself. There are dozens of electric vehicle SPACs, smaller stocks that need Tesla to succeed because it gives the whole group legitimacy,” Cramer said. “I like Tesla at these levels. I’m betting the quarter will be a good one.”
Tuesday: Alphabet, Microsoft, Starbucks and Advanced Micro
- Q1 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5 p.m.
- Projected EPS: $15.70
- Projected revenue: $51.38 billion
“We’ve got to focus on Google Cloud. I think it steals the show. I like it very much,” Cramer said.
- Q3 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5:30 p.m.
- Projected EPS: $1.78
- Projected revenue: $41.04 billion
“Microsoft’s stock has run so much that it needs to report a monster quarter with huge Azure numbers. The funny thing is, I think they’ll probably do it. I say stay with it,” he said.
- Q2 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5 p.m.
- Projected EPS: 53 cents
- Projected revenue: $6.78 billion
“The Chinese business should be very strong, but the U.S. is still transitioning to a new world where it’s the only game in town,” the host said. “Starbucks has had a monster run over the past year in anticipation of the great reopening and that call, well, it may be too early. I’m looking for a pullback.”
- Q1 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5 p.m.
- Projected EPS: 44 cents
- Projected revenue: $3.18 billion
“I’m betting that Lisa Su, the implacable CEO, will tell a terrific story. And unlike so many other semiconductor names, her stock’s actually down 10% for the year, meaning it could be ready to rock,” he said.
Wednesday: Boeing, Apple, Ford Motor and Facebook
- Q1 2021 earnings release: before market; Conference call: 10:30 a.m.
- Projected losses per share: 96 cents
- Projected revenue: $15.41 billion
“If you’re like me and you think we could be headed for an unprecedented economic boom, including the biggest travel onslaught in the history of this nation, then you want to own the company that’s most levered to it, and that’s Boeing,” Cramer said.
- Q2 2021 earnings release: 4:30 p.m.; conference call: 5 p.m.
- Projected EPS: 98 cents
- Projected revenue: $76.71 billion
“Apple’s stock has been a laggard, until recently. It’s caught fire as we heard chatter about better cellphone sales and a major potential inroad into the enterprise,” he said.
- Q1 2021 earnings release: 4:05 p.m.; conference call: 5 p.m.
- Projected EPS: 21 cents
- Projected revenue: $36.13 billion
“I anticipate excellent numbers despite the chip shortage,” the host said. “Ford is worth buying.”
- Q1 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5 p.m.
- Projected EPS: $2.34
- Projected revenue: $23.72 billion
“Judging what we heard from Snap last night … I think you’ve got to believe that Facebook is going to knock it out of the park,” he said. “Once again, it is not too late to be a buyer of Facebook as I think it goes to all-time highs.”
Thursday: Amazon, Skyworks
- Q1 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5:30 p.m.
- Projected EPS: $9.49
- Projected revenue: $104.49 billion
“The stock’s been treading water for months precisely because people are worried about the year-over-year comparisons,” Cramer said. “I think the company has gained new adherents … I think the stock still works.”
- Q2 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 4:30 p.m.
- Projected EPS: $2.35
- Projected revenue: $1.15 billion
“I predict a true blowout,” he said.
Friday: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Clorox, Colgate
- Q1 2021 earnings release: 6:30 a.m.; conference call: 9:30 a.m.
- Projected EPS: 60 cents
- Projected revenue: $56.38 billion
- Q1 2021 earnings release: before market; conference call: 11 a.m.
- Projected EPS: 89 cents
- Projected revenue: $32.54 billion
“When I listen to the oil people talk, I get the kind of positive vibe that I haven’t heard in ages. With prices up and costs down, I think these two companies could surprise to the upside,” Cramer said.
- Q3 2021 earnings release: before market; conference call: 1:30 p.m.
- Projected EPS: $1.47
- Projected revenue: $1.86 billion
- Q1 2021 earnings release: before market; conference call: 8:30 a.m.
- Projected EPS: 79 cents
- Projected revenue: $4.27 billion
“Wall Street’s circumspect about both of these,” he said. “I can’t say that their stocks will behave well when they report … At best, these are battlefield stocks and there’s no reason to go near a battlefield, not in this market.”
Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Amazon, Ford, Boeing, Facebook, Alphabet, Honeywell, Microsoft and Starbucks.
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