Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. (We’re no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.) Market rundown: The market has come off its high of the session Thursday, but all three major indices made new intraday records earlier in the trading day. This follows a big rally Wednesday in reaction to the cooler-than-expected April consumer inflation index , which caused bond yields to fall on increased rate cut expectations later this year. Eli Lilly dips: Shares of Eli Lilly are sitting out the rally on news that Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche ‘s experimental obesity drug demonstrated promise in a Phase 1 study. It’s not a surprise to see Lilly’s stock down on the threat of another new potential entrant to the fast-growing weight-loss market; we’ve seen this story before on trial data from Amgen and Viking Therapeutics . However, on days like these, the market seems to miss the size of Lilly’s defensive moat, rooted in its manufacturing scale, direct-to-consumer service and next-generation obesity drugs in the pipeline. Plus, we’re talking about a competitor’s drug in an early stage study, meaning it is years and years away from a potential commercial launch. Bullpen clean up: We’re taking a few names out of the Bullpen, our watchlist of stocks for the Club portfolio. Deere : The maker of farm equipment lowered its full-year outlook Thursday, citing a challenging agriculture market and inventory destocking in the back half of the year. We want to keep our industrial focus on companies tied to secular themes — like aerospace, the energy transition and the data center — or companies who are coming out of a destocking period and are about to see orders inflect. We’re still eyeing recent Bullpen addition Dover on a pullback. Walgreens Boots Alliance : Expectations, and the stock, have come down significantly over the past few months, but this turnaround looks a lot more challenging than previously thought. We probably won’t know the outcome of management’s strategic review for another few quarters, keeping us on the sidelines. Cloudflare : All the major content delivery technology companies reported disappointing quarters this earnings season, making us concerned about a possible slowdown. Valuation also is steep, with the stock trading at 100 times adjusted 2025 earnings estimates. Jim’s quick takes: Walmart ‘s earnings report Thursday looks like good news for our favorite value-focused retailer, Costco . “Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, made the point repeatedly that the company’s success this quarter came from lower prices,” Jim Cramer said. “I think that bodes well for the lowest price company, Costco.” Shares of Estee Lauder are up about 7% in the past week, among the best-performing Club stocks in that stretch. It may be receiving some help from an e-commerce giant in Estee Lauder’s important market of China. “The recent strength in Alibaba has put a bid under Estee Lauder,” Jim said. “I continue to believe that what matters here is the destocking of inventory and that the company will be able to offer fuller price goods.” Up next : Earnings are winding down for the week. Applied Materials and Take-Two Interactive are the only ones on our radar Thursday night. Applied Materials is a good read on what’s happening in the chip industry, while Take-Two is effectively in a transition period as we wait for an official GTA 6 release date. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. (We’re no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.)
