Earnings season is entering full swing on Wall Street, and CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday that investors would be wise to take a wait-and-see approach toward shares of companies that are about to report quarterly numbers.
“In this environment, it’s always going to be fragile on the upside and easy on the downside, because the bears … have the upper hand. Just keep in mind you should never buy this market when it’s up. That’s a fool’s game. I want you to wait for weakness like we had [Monday] before you ever pull the trigger,” the “Mad Money” host said from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, the show’s new broadcast home.
“If you’re thinking about buying something that’s about to report, why not wait until you hear what they have to say?” Cramer continued. He pointed to IBM as a prime example.
As of Monday’s close, IBM was one of only seven stocks in the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average to be higher year to date. However, shares were down nearly 4% in extended trading Monday after the company reduced its 2022 cash forecast, even though its second-quarter results beat on the top and bottom lines.
“If you bought it ahead of the quarter, you rolled the dice in a casino that’s not friendly to blind dice-rolling,” Cramer said.
With that in mind, Cramer previewed a number of other major earnings reports that are scheduled for the rest of this week. All earnings and revenue estimates are provided by FactSet.
