Cloud Computing Does Not Need Help From Washington – Cramer’s … – Seeking Alpha

Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Monday, May 22.

The market went up on Monday, as investors were buying the companies with the best earnings numbers. Cloud computing emerged as a winner, as all stocks related to social, mobile and cloud were up. After Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) reported good numbers, CEO Marc Benioff said more companies are adapting to the cloud.

Apart from tech, stocks related to the stay-at-home economy did well, as investors flocked to buy them. Both Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) and Domino's (NYSE:DPZ) made big gains. PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) gained 0.9% as well.

An RBC Capital analyst issued a note for a $1 trillion valuation for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) on the strength of the upcoming iPhone and Apple services. It's a cheap stock based on earnings. If you consider Apple as a consumer stock, it is cheaper than most big consumer names.

Cramer said all these companies do not need help from Washington to rise. They are likely to continue their run even after Trump returns to the White House.

Ford (NYSE:F)

Ford CEO Mark Fields was fired, and Jim Hackett will take over as the new CEO. The stock rose on the news. Cramer opines Fields should have been given more time for a turnaround, as he had been at the helm for just three years. Ford got 64% of its sales from the US, a market which has plateaued for auto sales.

Fields was given the task of growing sales, cutting costs and investing in autonomous vehicles to meet the challenges of tomorrow. The company had lagging sales in China, and to add to the challenge, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) surpassed Ford's valuation.

When Ford last reported, it told shareholders that 2017 would be a down year. There was also a debate with President Trump over building compact cars in Mexico. Cramer thinks Fields had many challenges and that it takes time and money to compete with the likes of Tesla.

Diageo (NYSE:DEO)

The one-year anniversary of the Brexit vote is coming up, and Cramer reviewed companies that would benefit from Brexit. It made Britain's currency cheaper, which is good news for UK companies with a lot of business overseas. One such company is the largest liquor manufacturer Diageo, whose stock is up 15% since the Brexit vote.

As the UK becomes independent, Diageo will gain massively. It derived 90% of its revenue from selling products outside the UK, where currencies are strong. All exporters in the UK are seeing benefits from a weaker currency.

Diageo is not only benefiting from currency, it is also taking market share from its competitors and seeing revenue growth. The company's earnings in January were solid, with scotch sales growing at 6%. Cramer thinks this trend will continue and that Diageo will have good numbers when it reports again in two months. He said he would be a buyer on weakness.

Credit card companies

When credit card companies like Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) and Capital One (NYSE:COF) reported last week, their stocks got hammered due to higher charge-offs from weak underwriting and subprime credit. The bigger banks had these charge-offs as well, but they were offset by growth in other businesses. The pure-play credit card companies were hit the most.

These companies said on the call that credit card defaults are on the rise. Cramer said he cannot recommend pure-play credit card companies after listening to their conference calls. He added that American Express (NYSE:AXP) is also seeing a turnaround, but he put it in his "don't buy" list until he sees better numbers.

If you believe there will be two rate hikes this year, then buy the major banks.

CEO interview - CyrusOne (NASDAQ:CONE)

The stock of data center REIT CyrusOne is up 25% in 2017. Cramer interviewed CEO Gary Wojtaszek to find out his take on the industry.

Wojtaszek said data centers REIT are in high demand compared to regular REITs, and they are growing 5-6 times faster than the average REIT. The company offers growth and yields 3% as well.

CyrusOne has 9 of the top 10 largest cloud companies as customers, and a lot of Fortune 500 companies are outsourcing their data center activities. CyrusOne has data centers across the country, and it has a new facility under development in Washington, as it has the cheapest power rates due to extensive hydropower infrastructure.

Wojtaszek added that the company's footprint is based on the data needs. Some applications like photo and video storage do not require fast access times, while high-frequency stock trading requires super-fast access times, so they are located as close to the location as possible.

Cramer called CyrusOne a rare stock, as it offers both growth and value.

Viewer calls taken by Cramer

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD): It's a terrific company and Cramer's favorite of the group.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP): It could be in a good situation long term, but Cramer prefers Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), which has made many changes.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL): The company has a new CEO, and it has hired services from Salesforce for its worldwide strategy. Cramer said he would not want to bet against the company.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC): Cramer likes YUMC and thinks there is no point betting against the stock. It's expensive, and he advised investors to hold the stock.

Panera Bread (NASDAQ:PNRA): Book profits on the stock.

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Cloud Computing Does Not Need Help From Washington - Cramer's ... - Seeking Alpha