There is a widespread belief that you can’t get into this market without losing money, but Jim Cramer told his Mad Money viewers on Thursday that this is simply not true. If you stick to long-term topics that work, you can be sure to make money. Some of these topics are cybersecurity, self-care products, digitizing everything, and financial empowerment.
© TheStreet
Cramer’s Mad Money Summary 9/9/21: Affirm, Amazon
Case in point: Affirm Holdings, the “buy now, pay later” service, which saw its shares skyrocket, rising 18.3% Thursday after the company announced a new partnership with Amazon. Cramer spoke to Max Levchin, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Affirm to learn more.
About Real Money, Jim Cramer writes: “Remember when we divided companies into those that could thrive in a COVID environment and those that would stall?” Now, he says, we have a new standard : Which companies do better than 2019? Find out which stocks do just that and learn more about Cramer’s real money investment strategies.
Levchin explained that merchants choose Affirm because it offers a full range of services that give them the security and control of installment payments while giving customers the greatest possible flexibility in how they pay. Installment payments are not easy, he said, which is why Affirm’s decades of experience would prove so valuable. The company has successfully used technology to solve a puzzle that many others have not been able to solve.
Loading failure
When asked why consumers flock to Affirm, Levchin said younger people need to buy things and they have learned the hard way that credit cards work against them with sky-high interest rates, late fees and myriad hidden fees. Affirm is fast, flexible and completely transparent and, because of the technology, does not offer any payment terms that consumers cannot afford to repay.
Cramer and the AAP team are reviewing everything from revenue to politics to the Federal Reserve. Find out what they are saying to their investment club members and join the fun with a free trial subscription to Action Alerts Plus.
Board decision: CrowdStrike
For his second segment “Executive Decision”, Cramer also spoke to George Kurtz, co-founder, president and CEO of CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company with shares up 111% last year.
Kurtz said the cyber attack threat has never been greater as ransomware attacks become more common and severe. He said hackers are now stealing a copy of your data before encrypting the copies on your network. If companies choose not to pay, the stolen data is then used for extortion, leaving companies in a lose-lose situation.
In addition to the “big mess”, there is the cryptocurrency, which enables hackers to get away with their ransom often undetected, and the internationality of the Internet, which makes it almost impossible to find and track the perpetrators. Little can be done against hackers outside the United States, Kurtz noted.
Companies are also putting themselves at risk by using legacy software and technology from Microsoft and other vendors, Kurtz said. These systems were not designed for today’s security requirements and cannot use cloud technologies that enable intruders to be detected quickly.
Cybersecurity is a long-term issue that won’t go away anytime soon, concluded Cramer.
Board decision: Ulta Beauty
For his third “Executive Decision” segment, Cramer went to one of Ulta Beauty’s newest stores to speak to CEO Dave Kimbell. Ulta just reported strong quarterly earnings that included a 13% increase in sales in the same store.
Kimbell said he was proud of the latest results from Ulta and the adaptability and flexibility of his entire team during the pandemic. He said Ulta’s stores showcase the very best that Ulta has to offer in skin care, hair care, fragrances and makeup, all of which have steadily improved over the course of 2021.
Video: Morgan Stanley Downgrades Cisco to “Equal Weight” (CNBC)
Morgan Stanley downgrades Cisco to “Equal Weight”
Click to expand
NEXT
When asked about the new partnership with Target, Kimbell said he was very excited about the opportunities for Ulta with Target. Their goal was not simply to place an Ulta store in Target, but rather to create a completely new experience that focuses on guests in a new way. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s a new connection to self-care and wellness, he said, and Ulta enables guests to experience beauty on their own terms.
Get more trading strategies and investing insights from contributors for real money.
Looking ahead to the holidays, Kimbell said that despite ongoing supply chain disruptions, Ulta will be ready for its 34 million loyalty club members.
Kimbell concluded by stating Ulta’s commitment to diversity. He said the company was proud of its accomplishments to date, but also knew that there was still much to be done.
Executive decision: UiPath
For his final segment, Executive Decision, Cramer reviewed Daniel Dines, chairman and CEO of UiPath, the robotic automation process company whose shares fell 3.6% on Thursday after the lock-up period on its most recent IPO expired.
Dines explained that UiPath’s software emulates human actions and can perform a wide variety of tasks. Customers use the platform for everything from finance to back office functions and rely on UiPath for reliable, scalable systems that can grow with their business.
When asked about the competition, Dines said that UiPath is years ahead of the competition in its field and that no other company is following the path it has taken.
Dines added that when evaluating the business, annual recurring revenue, or ARR, is a good measure of how things are going. While growth is a key driver for the company, it invests carefully to achieve stable results.
Back to the future – 2019
In his “No Huddle Offense” segment, Cramer revealed to viewers the secret of how to make money in today’s market. He told them to forget about 2020 and instead look for companies that beat their 2019 earnings.
It’s clear that stocks like Zoom Video and Clorox were both pandemic stocks that rose when the outbreak began but are now slowing down as the pandemic continues. But there are companies that are bucking this trend, stocks like DoorDash, Chipotle Mexican Grill, RH, and DocuSign. Cramer said all of these companies are doing better than they did in 2019, and their share prices reflect that. These are great companies that are built to last.
Lightning round
Here’s what Jim Cramer had to say about some of the stocks callers offered during Thursday night’s Mad Money Lightning Round:
Insego: “I am not satisfied with the development of this stock. It has fallen 45% and I think it deserves it.”
Biohaven Pharmaceuticals: “This is against AbbVie, but their migraine treatment is the real deal.”
Service Corp: “I’m going to say no now.”
Vertex Pharmaceuticals: “I’m surprised how far it has fallen, but I don’t recommend selling it down here.”
Browse Jim Cramer’s “Mad Money” trading recommendations with our exclusive “Mad Money” stock screener.
To watch reruns of Cramer’s video segments, visit the Mad Money page on CNBC.
To sign up for Jim Cramer’s free Booyah! Newsletter with all of his latest articles and videos please click here.
At the time of publication, Cramer’s Action Alerts PLUS held a position on AMZN MSFT.
This article was originally published by TheStreet. Continue reading
Show complete articles without the “Continue reading” button for {0} hours.
