Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 3/27/25
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Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Ed Money. Welcome to Kramerica. I've got my friends. I'm just trying to make your own money. My job is not just to entertain, but to teach you. So call me at 1-800-743-CMEC. Quit me, Jim Kramer. Sometimes you get used to certain stocks being winners for so long that you aren't even aware when their triumphant status is.

possibly runs its course. And that's how I am feeling right now about still one more day here with tech wilting on the vine. Dow losing 155 points, S&P slipping 0.33%, NASDAQ declining 0.53%. Like most market participants, I am unwilling to say goodbye to tech. It's been such a long-term winner that I'm reluctant to forsake it. And please, I mean, look, I just did come back from NVIDIA's GDC conference last week. Things were going great. I can't just say, well, that's over eight days later.

But when I scroll through the winning sectors for the year, I am struck by how they represent a wide array of groupings that aren't tethered to any particular economic worldview.

Neither a recession viewpoint nor a severe slowdown can explain which groups are pulling away from tech and communications services. The sub rubric that includes many Internet companies. The leaders for the year, indeed, are very strange, counterintuitive, or you can just call them broad if you wanted to. Let's start with the number one performing group. And this is a true oddity. Let's talk about the energy sector.

Now, we know the president's deeply committed to lowering the price of oil in this country, something that was actually referred to by Vice President Vance in that bizarre signal thread that accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, a harsh Trump critic and the editor of The Atlantic. The exchange, which has proven to be true, has Vance wanting everyone on the chain to know that it would be most unfortunate if an attack on Yemen causes the price of oil to jump. Yet here it is. Number one, top of the heap.

And I want to be a little subjective and dip to the third best performer in the oil and gas space, because the top two really aren't that representative enough. And the third is Chevron, long my favorite, which is up 15 percent to start this year after some some really kind of longer period of underperformance. And some of that success is because of the company's hefty dividend that yields north of 4 percent. Underneath Chevron on the list are a host of natural gas companies, which were big winners in the liquefied natural gas LNG export markets.

I think the group's also being helped by strong demand for natural gas power from the nation's myriad data centers. That could only just get better. Now, I thought this group would be down, given that the president wants to expand drilling and we have a slower economy. But the stocks aren't expensive.

And demand for natural gas, very strong. Coming in second is health care. And I think that's representative of the view that tariffs and prospective tariffs might cause a recession. And by the way, health care has got much more away from drugs. Service, service can't get tariffed. These are textbook slowdown stocks, though. There's a nice tree at work at the top of the health care sector. First is CVS. Now it's longer laggard and it's come back with new management, as well as a resurgent Aetna health insurance business. Vertex Pharma comes in second. I don't give you that enough.

because they've got this terrific new opioid non-habit-forming painkiller. And then third, there's Sancora, classic drug middleman, part of a subgroup that always seemed to send someone out of the top. To prove that the theme isn't just recession, financials are the third best-performing sector. And we know this group has a hefty reliance on credit, which sours in a recession.

Insurance has been incredibly hot this year with a remarkable pricing factor. As you know, we, well, you know all too well if you own the stocks of Brown and Brown or Arthur J. Gallagher, two stored insurance brokers that topped the list of best performers in the group. I never met anybody who owned them, though. The third finance name, Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, owns this, the New York Stock Exchange, as well as a host of commodity exchanges. I really like that stock. None of these have any real credit risks. One of these, but I like them. But

Their financials nonetheless. And the bank stocks are actually are acting much better than expected, even if they're not at the top of the heap. Now, the consumer staples long considered safety stocks. Well, let's just say they aren't all that safe these days because of a host of challenges. Everything from GOP dash one drugs weighing down the food business to higher prices for all sorts of commodity inputs.

But there's a frequent winner here among the consumer staples. It's one I won't recommend because it's got tobacco in it, and that's Philip Morris, the international tobacco company. It's one of the greatest stocks of all time, though. Walgreens has made a comeback, too, but it's going private. Consider that one done. Do not want to own that. Do not want to buy it, whatever. Dollar General is number three, and it's stock that historically has done well on a slowdown. Two food and beverage companies managed to make the cut, triumphing over the GOP-1 anti-craving drugs, perennial favorite Coca-Cola and Maudley's. Nice broad grouping there.

From the recession resistant to the recession suspect, we go to materials. On top of this new mining, because gold's had an amazing run, is that fear. Now, I don't know. I mean, as a matter of fact, tariff worries, maybe? Precious metal being a good storehold of value?

Hey, you know what? Maybe giving out gold's astronomical outperformance a bit of all three. Steel Dynamics comes in second within the materials group, and I think that's a winner in the tariff wars. Third is fertilizer company Mosaic. Now, it says something when the most complex tech instruments ever are all out of style this year. Why, people bet on the most simple formulas, the most commodity of commodities. Can't think of anything less glamorous or easier to make than fertilizer.

When interest rates go down, we normally look for utilities, but rates are going higher here. Now, it could heretofore mean that people want to profit from a slowdown, if not a recession, by buying companies with consistent earnings. So if they're buying Consolidated Edison, which is kind of a purveyor of electricity for the New York metro area, as well as number two, Exelon, the name of the utility that encompasses Baltimore Gas and Electric, Pico, that is the old Philly, and that's the old Commonwealth, then Chicago utility. Well, what can I say? It's plain as it gets.

The REITs rule in real estate. That's the seventh best performing group, the real estate group. And we have three very different ones showing the broad nature of this rally in this part, this subset. First is Welltower. That's a health care infrastructure company. Then American Tower, which is the REIT that owns cell towers. Then there's Ventas, a REIT dedicated to senior living. We used to have them on all the time. Talk about it.

Talk about broadening of the market. I mean, call this a paragon of diversity here. Finally, there are the industrials. Again, a group that's prone to failure during a recession. See my point? These are all oddities, right? The industrials are led by Uber Technologies, which is a much more of a services company than somehow classified the group. Then it's followed by GE Aerospace and Halmet, which makes fast turns for planes. These are both part of the aerospace bull market, which is still going on. It's a quiet one that shows no sign of quitting at all. More on that one later.

These new winning sectors haven't seen the light at the top of many, many quarters because, well, I mean, for ages it's been tech, tech, tech. For years, people have talked about how they would hope that the rally could finally broaden out beyond tech. And now that's exactly what's happening.

Except you can't call it a rally anymore. Now that the broadening has arrived, investors seem to pine for the stocks of Europe, mainly the Magnificent Seven, which are split between the communications services sector and the information technology sector. But they share one thing in common. They're almost all bad. We can't be too duplicitous here. A day like today signals a healthy market, even in the face of what we're endlessly told is a troubled market.

intriguing right ironic maybe i don't know now i dare call this a bull market the seven stocks that made up make up the ones magnificent seven are too big to dismiss you need at least some of them to put together a really positive tape

But the bottom line, it's terrific to see such a broad mixture of stocks winning here, from ones that can run in a recession to ones that can rally hard in a robust economy. What it tells me is that the market may be far healthier than we think. And this backdrop simply isn't as bad as many would have you believe. Let's go to Frank in New York, please. Frank. Hello, Mr. Kramer. How are you today? I'm good, Frank. How you been?

Pretty good. Baseball season, so it's all looking good. Yeah, I know. We've got a game right now with the Phillies, but I'm working, so I can't really go watch it because no one's going to pay me to watch it. Will anyone pay me to watch a game rather than do my show? Probably not.

Well, the staff is always there. They're great, you know? Yes, it's true. So anyway, looking at Flutter, what do you think of this one? FanDuel? I like Flutter. I like FanDuel. I like Flutter. This group is sold off. I think it's sold off too great. And I think Flutter's a terrific company. Actually, I think it's a really, really good company. But I like Jerry. I said I like both of them. I'm sticking by that. Let's go to Alex from Homestead, New Jersey. Alex.

Hey, Jim. First things first, I got to thank you for everything you do for us and for keeping such a fun and lighthearted attitude at all times, no matter what. Well, thank you. I got to tell you, I'm going back and forth with Jeff Marks. It's a hard day for us. You know, we own what I would say for the club, too much tech. But it's been so right for so long. I have to acknowledge that it's been wrong for six days, but I can't give up the ship. Thank you for those kind words. How can I help you?

So this company that I'm wondering about, I mean, them like everyone else, the uncertain times, they are very, how can I say, pretty, and they could be in trouble. And that stock is FedEx.

Yeah. Now, I've got to I want to be careful in this because I was one of the few people who thought that quarter had something that I really like to see. The revenues went down. OK. Yet the earnings went up. The revenues didn't were missed, but the earnings went up. That means if they start getting more sales, that thing could explode higher. I actually am not against holding position in FDX. Why don't we go to Stackwell in Washington? Stackwell.

Biggity, biggity, biggity, booyah, Jim. What's going on, Jimmy Chill? You tell me, Stackwell. I'm chilling here, I'll tell you that much. I was like shaking cold earlier. What's happening? Man, the market's looking real shaky, real shaky, real shaky, man. There is an element to that, absolutely.

When it gets kind of sick, man, we need someone with a PhD out here, man. And I know that they got a lot of PhD player-header degrees after you, man, so I'm going to give it to you real, man. All right, do it. We need something more grounded, man. Tell me how you're feeling about FCX, man, Freeport-McMoran.

All right. I think copper is going higher. And one of the reasons why I like it, by the way, is China's coming back. They're the biggest user of copper. But also something that Jensen Wong told me from from a video. He said, listen, copper is just the right thing to have in the data center. I was hoping to be replaced by glass. Doesn't happen anytime soon. Two thirds of the copper is used by China and China's making a comeback here. At least parts of China are making a comeback. And thank you for the kind words. I like that. Jimmy Chil is back. Frank in Texas. Frank.

Oh, man, what a town. What a town. I love that town. How can I help you? Well, I have a small position in Wells Fargo, and I read your article of 13 April where you praised them, and I'm wondering if I should add to my position. I went up, well, it's at 12 times earnings. You know what?

But there's no hurry. I like it. I talk a bit over with Jeff Marks every day because we own it for the club. But I'm not going to tell you to go run out and you have to buy it right here. I mean, maybe it comes in a little and it gives you a better chance, better entry point, so to speak. Thank you. Now, when you look at what sectors are working this year, I think it's silly that the market might be a little bit healthier than we think. On May Money Tonight, I'm revealing another pair of winners from this follow-up quarter.

Flushing out what I just said, what I just talked about. First, am I in the aerospace industry? See if stocks like GE Aerospace could take off even higher if the group's strong start here. And then, could Uber drive more growth ahead? I'll give you my read on the ride-sharing and robo-taxing market. And later, you called in some stocks in the industrial mining sector I want to take a closer look. I do not miss my deep dive on both, including one of them that I am sticking my neck out for. And I hope that don't happen. So stay with Kramer.

Don't miss a second of Mad Money. Follow at Jim Kramer on X. Have a question? Tweet Kramer. Hashtag Mad Mentions. Send Jim an email to madmoneyatcnbc.com or give us a call at 1-800-743-CNBC. Miss something? Head to madmoney.cnbc.com.

Under Biden, Americans' cost of living skyrocketed. Food, housing, auto insurance. Lawsuit abuse is a big reason everything's more expensive today. Frivolous lawsuits cost working Americans over $4,000 a year in hidden taxes. President Trump understands the problem. That's why he supports loser pays legislation to stop lawsuit abuse and put thousands back in the pockets of hardworking Americans.

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And now, a next-level moment from AT&T business. Say you've sent out a gigantic shipment of pillows, and they need to be there in time for International Sleep Day. You've got AT&T 5G, so you're fully confident. But the vendor isn't responding, and International Sleep Day is tomorrow. Luckily, AT&T 5G lets you deal with any issues with ease, so the pillows will get delivered and everyone can sleep soundly, especially you. AT&T 5G requires a compatible plan and device. Coverage not available everywhere. Learn more at att.com slash 5G network.

After our tepid mid-barch recovery was rudely interrupted by a tech-led sell-off yesterday, back again today, we're officially in choppy waters. We're stumbling into the end of the first quarter with new tariff worries and noisy economic data. Even though the market's in better shape than it was a couple of weeks ago, we're clearly not out of the widget. And that's why all week I've been highlighting what's working, the stocks that have managed to put up big gains despite

despite a very tricky environment. Specifically, I'm focused on the best performers in the S&P 500 year to date that look like they could have huge legs. So far, we've covered Newmont and the gold miners, as well as Vertex Pharmaceuticals and the Border Pharma cohort. These are classic safety trades, but that's not the only group that's been working. Just look at the seventh best performer in the S&P for the year, and that's GE Aerospace. Boy, you know I like this one. This is the jet engine business that was left over.

after the old General Electric spun off its health care and power divisions. And thanks to the strength of the aerospace industry, well, it's up more than 23 percent for the year. In fact, it set a new intraday high just yesterday.

GE Aerospace got off to a great start when reported a phenomenal quarter in late January, smashing the estimates across the board. Great revenue growth, tremendous earnings growth, expanded margins, beautiful free cash flow. Almost every line of the report was fantastic. Even more encouraging, total orders, crucial forward-looking metric, were up 46% year-over-year, and the company's total backlog stood at a staggering $171.6 billion by the end of last year.

up 11% year-over-year. $154 billion of that backlog is for the company's commercial engines and services segment. By the way, 90% of that is for services. Think engine maintenance for airlines, which is a real sticky business because no airline can afford to skip on maintenance.

In terms of formal guidance of 2025, GE's outlook was mostly right in line with expectations. Although the company's surprise to the upside with that generous free cash flow guidance. On top of that, GE Aerospace raised its dividend by 30 percent. And that's a classic sign of confidence. They also announced a $7 billion buyback. This whole quarter was just incredible. That buyback should be executed this year. Now, that's more than 3 percent of the company's current market capitalization. Thank you, Larry Culp, CEO.

No wonder the stock's been holding up so well, even when the market rolled over. The GE Aerospace story just looks rock solid right now. In total, they had orders for more than 4,600 commercial and defense engines last year. Lots of notable contract wins. In narrow-bodied jets, where GE has a dominant position, American Airlines ordered 85 Boeing 737 MAX jets powered by GE LEAP-1B engines. In wide-bodied, the company won British Airways as a customer for GE NX engines.

In defense, they got an order for 210 engines for 96 Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters. And these are just new equipment wins. Remember, most of GE Aerospace' backlog comes in the form of service contracts, including regular maintenance.

How is the company doing this well? Aside from the strength of the aerospace industry, management has been doing a terrific job. After spinning off GE Renova last spring, GE Aerospace embarked on a major efficiency initiative trying to tackle supply chain constraints, and it's already paying off. In early 2024, the company's priority suppliers were only shipping 50% of their committed targets to GE Aerospace. By the end of last year, they got that up to 90%. This new initiative has also resulted in huge cost savings, hence the much higher than expected operating margin last quarter. It's

Still, a lot of this is based on the strength of the broader aerospace business. If you look just outside the list of the top best performers at number 11, you'll find Alcoa descendant Halmet Aerospace, which I like to call Hal, I met your mother. Halmet's a specialist in aluminum products, including lots of aerospace parts like engine components, castings, facelifts.

which is another fancy word for screws. That one's up 21% for the year, after more than doubling in 2024, thanks to the same industry tailwinds as GE Aerospace. Hey, by the way, how much is it likely to benefit from a big fire at a major competitor's fasteners plant in Jaykentown, PA? I'm not in love with this one because it now sells for $1,000.

It's kind of very expensive, 40 times this year's earnings. But then again, anything aerospace is doing great, so maybe they deserve that valuation. Let me give you another quick one. RTX Corp., that's the aerospace and defense company, consisting of the Collins Aerospace Components business, Pratt & Whitney Engines, and Raytheon Defense business.

As I mentioned before, coming into this year, there were some big worries about the defense contractors based on the idea that Elon Musk and the Doge Boys would try to trim our bloated defense budget. I was curious if RTX could get hit because 54% of sales last year came from the defense side of the business. So far, so good. Not been a problem.

As with GE Aerospace and Halmed, RTX reported fantastic fourth quarter, although their full year forecast was a touch light versus expectations. Now, I wouldn't worry about that. I'm thinking that's UPOD at work under promise over deliver. And based on the stock's terrific performance this month, it seems like Wall Street agrees with me.

Plus, the stock's selling for just 22 times this year's earnings, largely because it's getting a defense contractor discount. Could be worth a buy here. Finally, on Monday, I told you about the many positive developments we were seeing with Boeing. Obviously, their track record in recent years has been abysmal, and it's hard to believe in a turnaround until they start making regulatory progress, do a better job of delivering their planes all the time.

But if the Boeing turnaround is real, or even if they can just avoid more major setbacks, then the entire U.S. aerospace industry could have a lot more upside in front of it. Keep in mind, as we watch all these new tariffs being put on imported goods, driven in part by President Trump's obsession with individual country trade balances, it strikes me that a good way for our trading partners to remedy these imbalances in a hurry would be just place some huge orders to Boeing. That's always the go-to olive branch in trade negotiations. Bottom line,

If Boeing truly gets its house in order, that would just be the cherry on top for the aerospace industry, which is already one of the strongest pockets in the market this year. Stick around after the break, and I'll give you another installment of What's Working, because I think it's important to circle the wagons around stocks that are holding up in a treasurer's tale, especially if you're in tech. Man Money's back after the break. Coming up, Kramer is taking a drive down Bull Market Lane. Don't miss his deep dive into Uber, next.

Under Biden, Americans' cost of living skyrocketed. Food, housing, auto insurance. Lawsuit abuse is a big reason everything's more expensive today. Frivolous lawsuits cost working Americans over $4,000 a year in hidden taxes. President Trump understands the problem. That's why he supports loser pays legislation to stop lawsuit abuse and put thousands back in the pockets of hardworking Americans.

It's time to make America affordable again. It's time to support the President's plan.

And now, a next-level moment from AT&T business. Say you've sent out a gigantic shipment of pillows, and they need to be there in time for International Sleep Day. You've got AT&T 5G, so you're fully confident. But the vendor isn't responding, and International Sleep Day is tomorrow. Luckily, AT&T 5G lets you deal with any issues with ease, so the pillows will get delivered and everyone can sleep soundly, especially you. AT&T 5G requires a compatible plan and device. Coverage not available everywhere. Learn more at att.com slash 5G network.

Right now, uncertainty reigns in this market. We have another rough day near the end of a rough month and a rough first quarter. But throughout this difficult period for so many formerly beloved stocks, plenty of names have actually managed to rally, as I said at the top of the show. They're what works in this new environment, which is why I've been spending all week highlighting the best performers in the S&P 500 year to date.

And now I've got another one for you. Uber Technologies up more than 24% for the year, making it the fifth best performer in the S&P. About a month and a half ago, I stuck my neck out and defended Uber after reported a widely panned quarter. Stock fell 7.5% in a single session. That seemed wrong to me. Turned out to be a very good call.

It's rally quick, $10 instead. Now, what made me confident enough to risk my neck on Uber? Well, in management's own words, it was their, quote, strongest quarter ever, end quote. Cleveland record tips, gross bookings, and adjusted EBITDA. Gross bookings were particularly impressive, up 21% year over year. I couldn't believe why the stock was going down. Monthly active platform customers were up 14%. Total trips were up 18%. The ride share business is booming.

While Uber's freight segment, that is their smallest, by the way, did have gross bookings miss, the company's two main businesses, Mobility, meaning ride-sharing, and Delivery, meaning Uber Eats, both beat expectations for gross bookings. Even though there was some nitpicking on the guidance for the current quarter, I said that it wasn't enough to justify the stock's vicious 7.5% sell-off. Sure enough, over the next three days, Uber immediately shot up nearly 22%. Clearly, someone got it wrong when they were selling. The stock's fared pretty well since then, too.

So is there anything else that's been keeping shares afloat besides the market acknowledging it judged the last quarter wrongly, harshly?

Only activist investor Bill Ackman had a part in this rally. Let's see, the stock bounced back so quickly after the post-quarter sell-off, in large part because Ackman disclosed that his hedge fund had taken a $2.3 billion stake in Uber. That was interesting to hear. He's certainly come a long way from when he mistakenly accused the company of stealing tips from cab drivers and overstating his profits last spring. Hey, I mean, if you can't beat him, join him.

Uber stock has also been buoyed by a complicated history with robo taxis and, of course, with Elon Musk. Interestingly, the stock set an all time high at the time back on October 11th. Do that just one day after Tesla's much anticipated cyber cab event. While the Tesla event was initially seen as underwhelming,

which is what initially pushed Uber higher, the stock immediately reversed course afterward and then started moving lower. The results of the November election only reinforced the belief in Elon Musk's ability to make these seemingly far-fetched cybercab and robo-taxi dreams a reality. In his defense, it wouldn't be the first time he's delivered on some lofty promises. How do you even catch a rocket anyway? Hard to blame anyone who was enthusiastic either. One of the largest backers of the Trump campaign, everybody figured that Musk would get favorable treatment from the new administration. Turns out that was understating him.

Of course, since Tesla hit its all-time high of $488 and change in mid-December, well, things have changed. Tesla and Musk have fallen out of favor on Wall Street, putting some cold water on the company's grand autonomous driving ambitions. But that's been good news for Uber because it means people aren't as worried about the spread of robo-taxis.

Of course, I think the whole line of argument is absurd. Self-driving cars should have no effect on Uber. These guys have already devastated the cab companies. Even if Tesla or anybody else starts selling self-driving taxis, they'll need to make their peace with the ride-sharing apps if they want to do business.

In fact, as management sees it, Uber's uniquely positioned to capture the $1 trillion-plus autonomous driving opportunity here in the U.S. At the end of the day, it'll take years to start seeing these things in mass production. And even when they get there, self-driving cabs face so many major challenges, especially cost. All the tech in these vehicles makes them very expensive. Once they get sold, the owners of these self-driving cars need to get a return on their investment.

Sure, someone like Tesla could try to operate a fixed fleet of Robotaxis like the old cab companies. But as Uber's management said in its latest prepared remarks, quote, in a typical large city, a fixed fleet designed to meet the weekly peak will have to

to 95% of vehicles idle during the multiple weekly troughs, end quote. They go on, quote, conversely, a fleet size below peak cannot deliver the reliable four-minute ETAs that consumers expect, end quote. Now, this gets even more complicated when you consider fleet sizes need to change pretty dramatically throughout the year. You won't get a great return on that $200,000 car if it's sitting idle 95% of the time. So how the heck can future autonomous vehicle owners make money? Simple.

They partnered with Uber. According to Uber, quote, an average utilized AV can run as much as 100,000 miles a year compared to a typical consumer vehicle at 10,000 to 15,000 miles a year, end quote. That's extended drive time. Drive team means these self-driving cars need all sorts of extra servicing, multiple charges per day, and extra cleaning. Luckily, Uber has 15 years of experience with 12 billion annualized trips to help autonomous vehicle owners manage all of these things.

That's not even considering the things you don't think about, like fair disputes, lost item returns, stranded vehicle rescue and insurance claim resolution.

It costs Uber a lot of money to develop this expertise. But the autonomous driving companies that partner with them get, and I'm going to quote this here, to plug into the cost structure instantly, end quote. They go on to say in their prepared remarks that, quote, put simply, we are the only player with the scale and expertise to run AV operations at the highest efficiency, period, end quote. Pretty emphatic. And it seems like the market has been gradually warming up to this reality as the fears surrounding the threat of robo-taxis have cooled.

While all the focus is on the future of autonomous driving, it's easy to forget that Uber has a lot of other innovation going on that it's finding success with. This includes Uber for teens, which was up an astounding 50% sequentially in the fourth quarter. UberX share has exceeded $2 billion in annualized gross bookings in less than three years. Management also noticed that its Uber shuttle is scaling nicely in New York, including more routes to L.A.

LaGuardia, which is, by the way, a nightmare to reach using public transportation. In fact, just today, they're launching a new they just launched a new shuttle to JFK. But here's the bottom line. Uber's another example of what's working in 2025, though it's more of a one off success story than a participant in the broader theme like the others I've mentioned. Still, I'm glad I defended this one after last quarter, and I don't think it's done going higher. Why don't we speak to Bob in Arizona, please, Bob?

Hi, Jim. It's Bob, first-time caller from Prescott Valley, Arizona, home of America's oldest rodeo. I did not know that, and I'm glad you're calling in. How can I help? Well, I'm asking for your thoughts on the merger between Paramount and Skydance.

Well, you're done there. You just want to, you know, just ring the register. You're done. There's not going to be any more upside to speak of. Let's move on and find something with a little more growth. Now, let's go to Robert in New York. Robert. Jim, we're going to find a stock right now that has a lot more growth, in my opinion, because years ago you said to buy this baby and just watch it go. And you were right again, as usual. But this company has a market cap of around $130 billion.

They're the leading global provider of financial technology and payment solutions. They have very secure and innovative payment processing, electronic billing, digital, and e-commerce solution, Jim. They keep buying back the stock. They have a ton of cash. The stock has soared over 59% this past year and 12% year to date, Jimbo. You made us money on this one, baby. And this is a monster. It keeps going up.

up, up, up, even when the market goes down. Buy, serve. All right. Well, I like because Frank Bisignano was the CEO and I understand you, but I believe he's going to Social Security. But I will tell you this. I think he's got a good team. It sells at 21 times earnings. It's a very, very good company. And I'm I'm I'm certainly I recommended it, but it wasn't really mine. I knew the CEO was and I think he's terrific. And that's exactly how we made the money on that one.

Anyway, Uber's success this year is more of a one-off story rather than a broader theme at play. But I don't think it's done going hard. Much more mad money ahead, including my look at a coal company that you put on my radar. And after yesterday's news that 25% oil tariffs are on the horizon, I'm telling you where I stand on trade in the Oval Office announcement. And oil calls rapid fire in tonight's edition of The Lightning Round. So stay with Cranford.

This week, a couple of callers have stumped me with stocks that I didn't know, including two separate people during Monday night's lightning round. Whenever that happens, I punt and tell the callers I'll come back once I've done some homework. This time I'm coming back quickly because I was stumped one too many times. It's starting to bug me.

First up on Monday, Zach in Indiana asked about a company called Aspen Aerogels. And I'd never heard of this. It's a specialty materials company that, as its name suggests, makes aerogels. I was thinking like Dr. Scholl's or something. These are not nanoporous, low density, lightweight materials with some unique characteristics like high heat resistance and strong electrical conductivity. That's why they're used in electric vehicles and industrial installation, mostly in various parts of the oil and gas business.

Aspen AeroGels came public in 2014, not a great time for any company with a major energy industry exposure. But by the time 2020 rolled along, well, they had established their electric vehicle business and anything connected to EVs had caught fire. Didn't hurt that this company finally started to see real revenue growth for the first time in 2021.

But after the growth stock bubble burst at the end of 2021, Aspen Aerogels had a painful correction that lasted all of 2022 and well into 2023. As for all I can tell, these big swings didn't have much to do with the financials. But in recent years, their business has improved, and the stock found a nice rally in late 2023, excuse me, in the first half of last year, before it peaked at $33 and changed last August. Yet the darn thing has fallen almost 80%. It's just under $7 now. Ah!

So what the heck's been happening here? Honestly, during the first portion of the stock slide in the back half of 2024, the action still seemed to be mostly dictated by broader market themes, as EVs rapidly went out of style, and that's now at 68% of their business. Stock then took another leg lower after the election, with investors worried that the Trump administration would be less friendly to electrics than Biden. No kidding.

For most of Aspen's aerogels downturn last year, the company's own results were actually holding up just fine. But then the company reported fourth quarter results last month, which was effectively one big reset. That's a kind word. While Aspen delivered a modest top and bottom line beat, their guidance for the current quarter was heinous. And they didn't even bother issuing a full year forecast.

They made it clear that they don't want to expand as aggressively as they were planning to do before the election. Worse, Aspen Aerogels basically just talked down the outlook for electric vehicles overall, talking about how several of the demand tailwinds that existed for the industry last year, quote, aren't as pronounced anymore. Fewer new electric models are launching, inventory of electric vehicles building up. And the company said it is, quote, offbeat.

So they basically totally reset expectations, and the stock plunged more than 23% on the day after the report.

It's been moving steadily lower ever since. At this point, Aspen AeroGel is flirting with its 2020 feet lows. Nobody wants to stick their necks out for this one. But you know what? I will. First, let's be clear that as long as this overall market's terrible, I expect Aspen AeroGel stock to be terrible, too. Long term, though, you know what? Maybe you're just getting this kind of really great entry point. Even if the electric vehicle theme is impaired these days, I don't think it's totally dead.

And the company offered some huge hope for bulls on its conference call last month after issuing its low-ball first quarter guidance. Aspen CFO said this is from a temporary drop in electric vehicle production to reduce finished vehicle inventory levels. Temporary, not permanent.

The company also had great things to say about the oil and gas side of the business, where it's exposed some terrific themes, including the rise of liquefied natural gas exports. If President Trump's effective as boosting domestic energy production, that should help, too. Now, this is now the smaller, less important part of the business, but it still matters. Now, it's not that much confidence in the estimates for Aspen, given everything I just explained. But, man, it's just under $7. The stock currently sells for just 12 times next year's earnings estimates. Very reasonable for what I believe is still very much a growth story, near-term noise notwithstanding.

Now, if you haven't gathered this one by now, this is incredibly risky. It's as speculative as it gets, frankly. But after looking into Aspen's air gels, I like the stock as a high risk, potentially high reward play. So, Zach in Indiana, I say go for Aspen if you've done the work and are comfortable with the risk.

The other homework name for Monday night was Alpha Metallurgical Resources. That's a Tennessee-based coal miner that Stafford in California called about. I'm going to keep this one short. I'll just tell you quickly. I'm passing on this. As Alpha Metallurgical's name implies, this is a miner of metallurgical coal, which is the type of coal that goes into steel production.

But there are lower emission ways to produce steel these days, and that's where the steel industry is headed. If you don't believe me, go ask Leon Tappalian from Nucor. Lorenzo Gonsalves from Cleveland Cliffs. They've always been pointing to a—they're boasting about their accomplishments in removing emissions from the steel production process, including ones that this one could believe.

could create. A cynic might argue that AMR could be a Trump play because the new administration is, shall we say, less concerned about environmental regulations, saying some positive things about coal lately. And if the economy was booming and we needed all the steel we could produce from all sources, then maybe I consider this one. But I'm not that cynical, and the economy is definitely not booming. Bottom line, if you want to bet on anything in the steel space coming back,

Why don't you make a bet on Nucor or Cleveland Cliffs for bounding? As each of these stocks has come down huge over the past year. But as for Alpha Medical Resources, just not something I'm interested in. Sorry, Stafford. Man, money's back here for the break. Coming up, Kramer takes your calls and the sky's the limit. It's a fast fire lightning round. Next. Tomorrow, kick off the trading day with Squawk on the Street.

Live from Post 9 at the NYSE. I buy gold constantly through Costco. It's one of the great... What's better? You get 3% back, David. Do you actually take possession of the gold? Yeah, I put it in a safety deposit box and I get the 3% back. I'm a big Costco fan. And the yield on that is... Well, you know, not everything's yield. Sometimes it's just about... There. You got it. You got the gold. It all starts at 9 a.m. Eastern.

It is time! It's time for the Lighting Round! And then the Lighting Round is over. Are you ready? Let's start with Rhonda in Florida. Rhonda.

Hey, how are you, Jim? I'm good, Rhonda. How about you? I'm good, thank you. I wanted to ask you about Oracle. I had bought it last year, but it looks like it's down about 17%. Yeah, people are souring on the data center. I'm pulling in my horns a little bit. I'll wait to see what CoreWeave says, how that deal does, and then we'll get a better read on Oracle. I need to go to Vincent in Maryland. Vincent. Hi, what's up, Jim? Not much. How about you, Vincent?

I'm good. I just wanted to quickly shout out my teacher, Mr. Mark, down at Stephen Cater High School. He taught me a lot about the stock market. What do you think about the stock PKP? Well, I mean, that's like a dice roll. That's Turkish sell. That's a bridge too far for me, partner. Let's go to Barb in Indiana. Barb. Hey, Booyah Jim. How are you? Booyah. I am good. How are you, Barb?

Great. Thanks so much for taking my call. So my question is, with the current focus on preventative medicine and the cancer moonshots, what are your thoughts on Grail? G-R-A-I-L. I actually like Grail a lot. I am probably alone on this because they're losing a lot of money. But for exactly why you said I like Grail and I would be a buyer. Let's go to Jerry in Illinois. Jerry. Jerry, you're up.

Speak to me, George. Hey, Jim. Long time, long time. Love you, sir. All right. I like it. All right. Good to have you. We started a position in this company a little while ago, and my son thinks now's the time to pull the trigger and add to it, Jim.

We're talking about Block, X, Y, Z. Okay, Block, you know, we had Amrita Hoosier on when we were out in California last beginning. It's a very quizzical situation because they missed the quarter twice. But you know what? It's come down so much that I got to think it's the right price to buy. I'm going to say buy half right now. And then if it breaks down below 53, then you can buy more. That's where 52 would be close. Let's go to Sam in Wisconsin. Sam.

Good afternoon, Jim. This is Sam. Listening to you since 2022. I've got a question on this question on DOC. Yeah. Now, this is a REIT that does medical properties, and I think it's good. I've not been in love with that kind of REIT, but I do think it's a reasonably it's a reasonable REIT. Let's go to Peter in California. Peter.

Hey, thanks, Jim. Thanks for taking my call. Oh, absolutely. Everything you and your staff do, I've learned a lot. You guys do great work. I've been giving you a big shout-out, boo-yah. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you. Hey, my question tonight is on Rubrik, R-B-R-K-E. They've had two great quarters. What can I say? I watch them when they're on air, and, man, they are doing very, very well. And, you know, I do like cybersecurity. Let's go to Gary in Michigan. Gary.

Oh, that's what I thought. I'm doing my best. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for doing what you did, which is completely noble. Thank you. How can I help? Hey, my question's on Edward Lifescience, the GW. Is it a hold'em or a fold'em? I think it's a hold'. It used to be so good. Abbott got some really good news today about Hart, and that's been my favorite, but also Boston Scientific. I prefer Boston Scientific to Edward's Life Science really, really right now. Let's go to Kevin in Texas. Kevin.

Hello, Jim. Thank you for taking my call and thank you for this lightning round. It's really helped me a lot in the past. This lightning round is great. I love it. It's fun. It's fun.

It is. So today I'm looking at a stock that's had its ups and downs recently. It's currently down like a lot of stocks are, but I love the avocado bacon cheeseburger. Is now a good time to start a new position in Shake Shack? You know, that last quarter was not good, and I was quite surprised. I like Rob Lynch very much. I'm inclined to want to buy it, but when I see a quarter that is that much off from where I expect it,

We have to wait another quarter. Like I said, I really like Rob Litch. I loved him at Papa John's, but geez, that was not a good quarter. Let's go to Ed in New York. Ed. Good evening, Professor Kramer. Booyah. Booyah. What's going on? Jim, I got one you might want for your charitable trust. The company is Transmedics.

Yeah, this is a transplant therapy and we're very close to that in our family. And I think that it's an interesting company. I'm not going to necessarily recommend it right here. It's very expensive, but it is an interesting company. Let's go to Brian in Florida. Brian.

Okay.

It's never been this cheap that I can recall. And, you know, I love Jay Shrevely a lot. But here's the problem. It's a data center stock. We've got to see some bounce in the data center. I cannot stick my neck out and have one more data center in my charitable trust. And I've got to just be candidly. It's been a house of pain. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the conclusion of the Lightning Round. The Lightning Round is sponsored by Charles Schwab.

Coming up, what do the latest auto tariff announcements mean for the economy? Kramer is giving you his take on the country's foray into not so free trade. Next. Yes, I'm not a big fan of free trade. Yes, I feel that our country has been abused by our so-called trading partners, especially when it comes to cars. And yes, I favor the 25 percent tariff on automobile imports.

Close watchers of the show know that this is not a new view for me. I've seen China devastate entire industries in this country. My late father was in the gift wrap business, and all of his American suppliers were wiped out by the Chinese, who dumped cheap gift wrap here, destroying the mills that he'd previously partnered with.

And then my dad started working with the Chinese. And to be fair, they did a great job. He never stopped raving about them. They treated him well. But I want to know, how could we let China wipe out one after another American industry? Because in the 90s, our country made what I consider to be a deal with the devil. We decided that we'd happily import tons of cheap stuff from overseas, even if it meant wiping out industry after industry, crushing factory towns all over the country.

Again, I got nothing against cheap stuff, and I don't think we should prop up domestic manufacturers at all costs. I am well enough off, though. I do know that I have to be concerned about a lot of things, but not higher prices for goods. So you might say, Jim, it's so easy for you to come out here and say this stuff, but I do think this was a bad tradeoff. We sacrificed millions of jobs in the Rust Belt so that the entire country can get cheaper apparel and automobiles. What about the millions of people we left behind?

Now, the president has declared that false free trade era over, and I'm on board with this, even as I wish he could lay out a clear plan rather than rolling out the tariffs one by one. But when it comes to these new auto tariffs, I got nothing to quibble over at all. Sure, foreign automakers have moved a lot of manufacturing, but half of our cars sold are made overseas with a de minimis tariff. Uh,

Perhaps just as insidious is the ratio of content in foreign cars made in our country. It's a little known fact, but many of the foreign cars made here are actually just assembled here with the more value added parts like engines still made in their home countries. The low end jobs get sent here. The result, only a quarter of our foreign cars are actually made here at all. It is worse than we think.

That's a travesty made worse by the fact that our car companies are closed off from so many of these foreign markets. The unfairness of all this, I think, is palpable. Germany, Japan, South Korea have always gone out of their way to protect their own domestic automakers at our expense. Now, I know that these tariffs will raise the price of our cars, so that can be no doubt. If we want to bring manufacturing jobs back to this country, we're going to have to pay a price for it.

But to me, what matters is that there is at last a recognition that good factory jobs and all the ancillary jobs that come with them have been lost, but perhaps not for good. Some could flow back here. Again, there are tradeoffs. Factory jobs may not be as important these days as other as every other kind of job, frankly. But when we look around our country at all these gutted small towns that have led to such despair, such drug use, such homelessness, the bargain for cheap goods, I think it's a mistake.

I'm glad the White House is finally going full speed in the opposite direction. It's about time. Like I said, as always, bull markets are my problem. Just for you right here on MadMoney, I'm Jim Cramer. See you tomorrow. All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Cramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal, or their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by Cramer on television, radio, internet, or another medium.

You should not treat any opinion expressed by Jim Cramer as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Mad Money Disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com forward slash madmoneydisclaimer.

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