Mad Money

Cramer's game plan: Get ready for a packed earnings week

Key Points
  • CNBC's Jim Cramer says he longs for lazy August days ahead of a packed week of earnings reports from retailers and tech companies.
  • The "Mad Money" host tells market-watchers what to expect from next week's earnings reports.
Wave goodbye to lazy August days ahead of packed earnings week
VIDEO0:4800:48
Wave goodbye to lazy August days ahead of packed earnings week

August used to be a month when nothing happened, CNBC's Jim Cramer said.

The Mad Money host looked back on the days when he would go to movies during the day, seeing "The Fugitive" for the fifth time instead of obsessing over quarterly reports.

"I yearn for the sleepy weeks of August where you could bask in the notion that there's a whole lot of nothing going on," Cramer said. "Those days are over. Instead, we just get another monster week ahead of us."

With that in mind, Cramer turned to his game plan:

Monday: Estee Lauder

Cramer is looking to see if Estee Lauder has had a chance to reset after last quarter disappointed. After beating analysts' estimates for years, the New York-based company finally could not beat expectations that were soaring too high, according to the Mad Money host.

"By the way, if it's a good quarter, that's a terrific sign for Ulta Beauty, a solid partner in the U.S., and perhaps a reason to go back and buy some Macy's, which got overly hated real fast," he said.

Cramer attributes the beauty company's routine trouncing of Wall Street estimates to "the rise of the selfie generation."

"Of course, we're going to need a legion of psychiatrists to help young people deal with the fallout from this social media inspired self-loathing," he said. "But in the meantime, they use Estee Lauder's cosmetics to make themselves look terrific."

Tuesday: Kohl's, TJX, Medtronic, Toll Brothers, Urban Outfitters

Kohl's: While Cramer doesn't think that Kohl's will be hurt by a reinvigorated Walmart, he still warns that the stock is an erratic trader.

"I say buy some before and buy some after," he said.

In Kohl's favor is its partnership with Amazon that allows customers to return products from the e-commerce giant in exchange for Kohl's cash.

TJX: After the Macy's sell-off, Cramer is a little wary of TJX, although he otherwise expects yet another good quarter.

The off-price chain's stock has been steadily rising for a little less than a year, which Cramer takes as a sign that it has its mojo back.

"People just can't get enough of this discounter, or of Burlington Stores either," he said.

Medtronic: Cramer calls Medtronic the "perfect fit for this moment."

"The medical device makers are killing it here," the Mad Money host said.

His one hope is that the company's stock comes down ahead of the earnings announcement.

Toll Brothers: Cramer is looking forward to hearing from Toll Brothers' management about why conventional wisdom is saying that housing is too expensive, even as the economy is roaring.

He explained that the home construction company has become despised because of that belief. As a result, Toll Brothers' stock has been on a steady decline so far this year, like that of so many other homebuilders.

Despite that situation, Toll Brothers has been buying back shares and rewarding shareholders and selling lots of homes, according to Cramer.

Urban Outfitters: Retailer Urban Outfitters will also report on Tuesday, and the company has already said that the current fashion cycle will be long.

This is good news for shareholders because the Philadelphia-based company has been doing well lately, according to Cramer.

Wednesday: Lowe's, Target, L Brands, Analog Devices

Lowe's: The market didn't respond well to Home Depot's quarter, but Cramer thinks that it could respond better to Lowe's because it's making a turnaround play.

"I like Lowe's here," he said.

Target: While Cramer likes Target, he is planning to wait to see what they have to say. CEO Brian Cornell's efforts have been fruitful so far for the retailer, the Mad Money host said.

L Brands: Cramer wants to find out if L Brands is able to report good news from Bath & Body Works. The retailer, which counts both the Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works among its brands, has struggled lately because of declining sales at the lingerie chain.

Good news from the bath shop chain could cover up weaker results from Victoria's Secret, Cramer said.

Analog Devices: Cramer is betting that Analog Devices delivers strong numbers on Wednesday, regardless of the panic surrounding the semiconductor industry recently. Micron, NXP and Texas Instruments — all of which were doing well not so long ago because of the internet of things — have been floundering lately.

"This company has done such a good job, and I now regard it as the ultimate industrial chipmaker," Cramer said.

Thursday: Alibaba, VMware, Splunk, Intuit, HP, Ross Stores, Gap

Alibaba: This week, the Chinese company Tencent saw its stock plummet after Chinese regulators blocked one of its most popular video games. Cramer is looking to see if Alibaba goes the same way as Tencent.

"Alibaba may be in better graces, but between the trade war and the slowdown of the Chinese economy, I'd rather stay away," he said.

VMware: Cramer expects an upside surprise from the cloud computing company, particularly after Cisco's strength this week.

"It helps other businesses onboard to the cloud, and it's the preferred way to get on Amazon Web Services," he said.

Cramer believes that VMware could be the strongest company reporting earnings next week.

Splunk: While Splunk's stock has struggled, Cramer stays optimistic.

"I'm not backing away from the best analyzer of data in an increasingly digital world," he said.

Splunk has partnered with Amazon Web Services and works with Coca-Cola, Nordstrom and the state of Alaska, among other other clients.

Intuit: Cramer said that he thinks Intuit is a stock worth buying going into the quarter. The financial software company has moved into cloud computing, and the Mad Money host calls it a "financial tech wunderkind."

HP: Another stock that Cramer named as worth buying before it reports is HP. Cramer is also a personal fan of the company, which makes his computer.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm darned glad I have an HP because the touch screen is the bomb," Cramer said.

Ross Stores: Cramer expects that Ross will be strong.

Like TJX, Ross is an off-price chain and is continuing to expand its reach in the United States.

Gap: When it comes to Gap, Cramer isn't sure what to expect.

"I can't figure out why the company just can't seem to deliver in this environment," he said.

But he isn't ruling out the clothing retailer altogether.

"Gap has good price points and better management than they've had in years," he said.

Friday: Foot Locker

Foot Locker: Cramer is looking forward to Foot Locker because he sees footwear as one of the strongest retail categories.

Like handbags, shoes across the board are usually strong performers at the shopping mall.

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Kohl's.

Watch Cramer's full game plan:

Cramer's game plan: Wave goodbye to lazy August days ahead of packed earnings week
VIDEO10:1610:16
Cramer's game plan: Wave goodbye to lazy August days ahead of packed earnings week

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