Mad Money

Cramer's week ahead: A tough week, a prelude to election day

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Wall Street will face a deluge of market-moving events in the coming weeks.

With a jam-packed week of big companies set to report and lawmakers still negotiating a highly anticipated stimulus bill, investors will have a lot of information to digest as the presidential election and uncertainty associated with it looms.

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday advised "Mad Money" viewers to be prepared to buy stock on any Washington-induced pullbacks.

"It's a tough week, a prelude to election day. Confusion lies ahead," he said. "I say proceed with caution, but if you like something, then do a little homework then wait for the inevitable swoon and buy it into weakness."

Cramer presented his market playbook for the week ahead. All earnings projections are based on FactSet estimates:

Monday: Otis Worldwide, NXP Semiconductors, Twilio earnings

Otis Worldwide

  • Q3 earnings release: before market; conference call: 10 a.m.
  • Projected EPS: 56 cents
  • Projected revenue: $3.21 billion

"Otis is levered more to Chinese elevator maintenance than American elevator construction," Cramer said. "That makes it a terrific Biden stock, because people now perceive Biden as being soft on China, which means the Communist Party will be less likely to mess with Otis' sales than if Trump wins again."

NXP Semiconductors

  • Q3 earnings release: after market; conference call: Tuesday, 8 a.m.
  • Projected EPS: $1.54
  • Projected revenue: $2.24 billion

"If the stock reacts well, you can bank on a lot more upside for both the chipmakers and the automakers," he said.

Twilio

  • Q3 earnings release: 4:05 p.m.; conference call: 5 p.m.
  • Projected losses per share: 4 cents
  • Projected revenue: $407 million

"Twilio will help us determine if these high-fliers are ready to rebound, because few companies are more richly valued than this software company that helps app developers connect with their customers," the host said.

Tuesday: Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Caterpillar, Stanley Black & Decker, Microsoft, AMD earnings

Pfizer

  • Q3 earnings release: 6:45 a.m.; conference call: 10 a.m.
  • Projected EPS: 69 cents
  • Projected revenue: $12.31 billion

"Perhaps more important, we'll learn how Pfizer's vaccine is coming. We heard the president say it was around the corner in last night's debate," Cramer said.

Merck

  • Q3 earnings release: 6:45 a.m.; conference call: 8 a.m.
  • Projected EPS: $1.44
  • Projected revenue: $12.21 billion

Eli Lilly

  • Q3 earnings release: before market; conference call: 9 a.m.
  • Projected EPS: $1.71
  • Projected revenue: $5.88 billion

"In many ways, I care more about the Covid therapeutics, though," the host said. "That's what Merck and Lilly are working on. If we can get you in and out of the hospital fast with this horrible disease, while preventing long-term organ damage … that would be a gamechanger."

Caterpillar

  • Q3 earnings release: 6:30 a.m.; conference call: 8:30 a.m.
  • Projected EPS: $1.17
  • Projected revenue: $9.73 billion

"If you think the polls are right about a Biden victory, you might want to buy some CAT before the quarter and then some after, because the company would benefit from better relations with China," he said.

Stanley Black & Decker

  • Q3 earnings release: before market; conference call: 8 a.m.
  • Projected EPS: $2.69
  • Projected revenue: $3.99 billion

"I am confident that they will deliver good numbers," he said.

Microsoft

  • Q1 fiscal 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5:30 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: $1.54
  • Projected revenue: $35.76 billion

"The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, is a wizard. His only problem is that the company really has more business than it can handle," Cramer said.

AMD

  • Q3 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: 35 cents
  • Projected revenue: $2.56 billion

"When AMD reports, I bet you'll actually get something terrific," he said.

Wednesday: United Parcel, Boeing, General Electric, Ford, ServiceNow, Etsy, Pinterest earnings

United Parcel

  • Q3 earnings release: 6 a.m.; conference call: 8:30 a.m.
  • Projected EPS: $1.90
  • Projected revenue: $20.21 billion

"We already know that e-commerce is on fire. I expect great things from the new CEO, Carol Tome, formerly the CFO of Home Depot," Cramer said. "She's a no-nonsense leader. I think she'll give you a rigorous, positive look at the holiday season."

Boeing

  • Q3 earnings release: before market; conference call: 10:30 a.m.
  • Projected losses per share: $2.30
  • Projected revenue: $14.4 billion

"I've been telling members of the ActionAlersPlus.com club that this is the quarter before the trough quarter for the bedraggled Boeing, which means it's time to buy," he said. "You don't buy a turnaround story at dawn. You buy it when it's darkest before the dawn."

General Electric

  • Q3 earnings release: before market; conference call: 8 a.m.
  • Projected losses per share: 4 cents
  • Projected revenue: $18.73 billion

"GE has a wind business that's doing real well … [and] a solid health care business. Not enough to intrigue, yet," the host said. "Could you please give GE three more months?"

Ford

  • Q3 earnings release: 4:05 p.m.; conference call: 5 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: 20 cents
  • Projected revenue: $35.73 billion

"I bless buying Ford both before and after the quarter. We've got a raging bull market in autos and that includes the lucrative F-150," he said.

ServiceNow

  • Q3 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: $1.03
  • Projected revenue: $1.11 billion

"I expect a blowout from ServiceNow," Cramer said.

Etsy

  • Q3 earnings release: after market; conference call: 6 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: 56 cents
  • Projected revenue: $412 million

"I like Etsy's red-hot mask business," Cramer said.

Pinterest

  • Q3 earnings release: after market; conference call: 4:30 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: 4 cents
  • Projected revenue: $380 million

"Pinterest is going up along with Snap because their ads work," he said.

Thursday: Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Facebook, Starbucks earnings

Amazon

  • Q3 earnings release: 4:01 p.m.; conference call: 5:30 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: $7.38
  • Projected revenue: $92.63 billion

"After the pandemic hit, Amazon took over the world," Cramer said.

Apple

  • Q3 earnings release: 4:30 p.m.; conference call: 5 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: 71 cents
  • Projected revenue: $63.98 billion

"Apple's got their new 5G phone to crow about," he said.

Alphabet

  • Q3 earnings release: after market; conference call: 4:30 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: $11.30
  • Projected revenue: $42.78 billion

"Alphabet will miss because it almost always misses," the host said. "At this point I blame Wall Street for getting the estimates wrong."

Facebook

  • Q3 earnings release: 4:05 p.m.; conference call: 6 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: $1.89
  • Projected revenue: $19.77 billion

"I expect huge numbers from Facebook," he said.

Starbucks

  • Q3 earnings release: 4:05 p.m.; conference call: 5 p.m.
  • Projected EPS: 31 cents
  • Projected revenue: $6.06 billion

"As for Starbucks, it's a work in progress. Probably gets hit," Cramer said. "I say be patient, it will snap right back if Biden wins the election because the future of Starbucks is in China and it'll be easier for them to expand there if Beijing has a less antagonistic relationship with the White House."

Friday: Chevron, Exxon Mobil earnings

Chevron

  • Q3 earnings release: 6:45 a.m.; conference call: 11 a.m.
  • Projected losses per share: 23
  • Projected revenue: $25.91 billion

"CEO Mike Wirth is so confident about his situation that I bet he talks about helping the environment," Cramer said.

Exxon Mobil

  • Projected losses per share: 25 cents
  • Projected revenue: $45.38 billion

"Exxon better have something up its sleeve that lets them protect the dividend, which currently gives you a 10% yield," he said.

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks, United Parcel, AMD and Microsoft.

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