• Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Home
  • Daily Diary
  • Asset Class
    • U.S. Equity
    • Fixed Income
    • Global Equity
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
  • Sector
    • Basic Materials
    • Consumer Discretionary
    • Consumer Staples
    • Energy
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Industrials
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Telecom Services
    • Transportation
    • Utilities
  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Video
    • Columnist Conversations
    • Best Ideas
    • Stock of the Day
  • Street Notes
  • Authors
    • Doug Kass
    • Bruce Kamich
    • Jim Cramer
    • Jim "Rev Shark" DePorre
    • Helene Meisler
    • Jonathan Heller
    • - See All -
  • Options
  • RMPIA
  • Switch Product
    • Action Alerts PLUS
    • Quant Ratings
    • Real Money
    • Real Money Pro
    • Retirement
    • Stocks Under $10
    • TheStreet
    • Top Stocks
    • Trifecta Stocks
  1. Home
  2. / Investing
  3. / Healthcare

Cramer: M&A Is Just the Beginning of Today's Story

Ask not for whom the register rings, and it better not ring for thee.
By JIM CRAMER
Oct 21, 2016 | 11:31 AM EDT
Stocks quotes in this article: BTI, RAI, QCOM, NXPI, TWX, T, MSFT, AMZN, MCD, PYPL, ALKS, TWLO, GE, VZ, UNP, TRV, S, TMUS

It's been ages since there's been this much news in a given day, so we almost have to group it to get it and figure out what's really happening.

In order of importance, first there is M&A. British American Tobacco's (BTI) bid for Reynolds (RAI) shows you that more money could have been and has been made in tobacco than just about any other group out there, and it keeps happening. I bet BTI has to pay more to get it, but I wouldn't chase and would rather say, "I missed it."

My CNBC colleague David Faber, always breaking new ground, made it clear that Qualcomm (QCOM) and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) have come to a deal at $110 a share, which seems disappointing for NXP shareholders unless you look at the bigger picture, as we are doing for Action Alerts PLUS: The stock was at $80 not that long ago. Huge win. Then, incredibly, the consolidation in media may continue, as David made it clear that where there is deal smoke with AT&T (T) and Time Warner (TWX) , there could be fire. (Qualcomm and AT&T are part of TheStreet's Dividend Stock Advisor portfolio.) 

So, just think, Reynolds, NXP, Time Warner -- the deal "bid" underneath the market still makes a ton of sense.

Then there's the upside and downside of earnings, and the two standouts today are Microsoft (MSFT) , which delivered a quarter that showed incredible cloud growth, and the possibility that Amazon (AMZN) has a real competitor, maybe even a superior one, to its Web Services business. I remember when Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella came in, he was talking about doing $18 billion in cloud in a couple of years' time. I thought that to be way too aggressive. Yet he's raised the bar to $20 billion by 2018 and I think he will pull it off. (Amazon is part of TheStreet's Growth Seeker portfolio.) 

The man is continually underestimated.

Speaking of underestimated, though, have you seen the stock of McDonald's (MCD) roaring? That's as it should be as CEO Steve Easterbrook delivered an astounding 3.5% comparable store growth vs. the 1.5% the naysayers were looking for. Easterbrook has re-energized his most important constituency, the franchises, and while people keep thinking his breakfast all day is all he has up his sleeve, I can safely say you ain't seen nothin' yet. There's much more technology and innovation to come. Don't ring the register.

So many people have doubted PayPal (PYPL) forever that it's intriguing to see still one more good quarter -- it has had many -- and the stock finally reacts positively because the bearish cabal of analysts just couldn't fight the tide anymore. I wouldn't pay up for it as I am sure there will be some recidivism, but congratulations are in order to Dan Schulman and company.

You know where else you don't want to ring the register? Alkermes (ALKS) . Last night, the company announced a breakthrough anti-depressant that works when the others don't and doesn't produce a weight gain. This is the holy grail of one of the biggest markets out there and major props to CEO Richard Pops for pressing forward relentlessly on this drug when others had given up on it. Amazingly the stock, up $13, probably isn't done going higher, although profit-takers will no doubt swarm in eventually.

Twilio (TWLO) , which reported an astounding quarter, has seen its stock pummeled by the announcement of a follow-on offering. The bankers priced it in the hole, down four at $40, and I think the deal holds.

Ahh, but it wasn't all done in fair weather. The charitable trust may own NXPI, but it also owns GE (GE) and here the orders were down 6% and the revenues disappointed. Not disastrous, but certainly nothing to cheer about. I remain committed to it, but if it didn't have a yield to protect it I do believe it would go lower.

Three other disappointers this week? Verizon (VZ) , Union Pacific (UNP) and Travelers (TRV) . The first? Blame more aggressive companies like Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) , they are winning with the hearts and minds and pocketbooks of the millennials with their radical advertisements. Union Pacific? People got too excited about a turn, oops, too early. And Travelers? Shelled mercilessly because of the reason we need driverless cars: distracted drivers. For years we've had a decline in fatalities. That is until texting came along. It's the scourge of the highways, and the insurers, including Travelers, simply weren't and aren't ready for it.

I know, what a couple of days, and I bet this counts as calm vs. next week when the earnings season kicks into even higher gear.

Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.

Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, is long GE and NXPI.

TAGS: Investing | U.S. Equity | Healthcare | Technology | Consumer Staples | Jim Cramer | E-Commerce

More from Healthcare

Broad Rally, Vaccine Optimism, Johnson & Johnson, GameStop Roars, Trading Nvidia

Stephen Guilfoyle
Feb 25, 2021 7:04 AM EST

The market's catalyst had everything to do with the virus... optimism that humankind might stuff that scourge back into Pandora's box.

Eli Lilly Is Poised for a Pullback Before Renewed Longer-Term Gains

Bruce Kamich
Feb 23, 2021 7:43 AM EST

Let's review the charts and indicators.

It's an Opportune Time to Renew Your Vows With CVS Health

Paul Price
Feb 18, 2021 7:00 AM EST

The pharmacy giant offered a great buy/write options play last summer and is setting up again for such action.

Just Had My First Teladoc Appointment: Is the Rally Over?

Bruce Kamich
Feb 17, 2021 2:39 PM EST

I may be late to trends, but not to stock charts.

CVS Health Reports Q4, and Here's What I'm Changing Up

Stephen Guilfoyle
Feb 16, 2021 10:55 AM EST

I do want to give new CEO Karen Lynch a chance. Nothing against Larry Merlo but I always thought that this stock was undervalued.

Real Money's message boards are strictly for the open exchange of investment ideas among registered users. Any discussions or subjects off that topic or that do not promote this goal will be removed at the discretion of the site's moderators. Abusive, insensitive or threatening comments will not be tolerated and will be deleted. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have questions, please contact us here.

Email

CANCEL
SUBMIT

Email sent

Thank you, your email to has been sent successfully.

DONE

Oops!

We're sorry. There was a problem trying to send your email to .
Please contact customer support to let us know.

DONE

Please Join or Log In to Email Our Authors.

Email Real Money's Wall Street Pros for further analysis and insight

Already a Subscriber? Login

Columnist Conversation

  • 11:32 AM EST JAMES "REV SHARK" DEPORRE

    This Weekend on Real Money

    Navigating a Market Correction
  • 11:29 AM EST GARY BERMAN

    Where Does the Nasdaq Go From Here?

    Where does the Nasdaq Composite (CCMP) index go fr...
  • 12:31 PM EST GARY BERMAN

    Has the Short-Term Top Come for the XLF/Banks?

    The has triggered a long-term overbought signal ...
  • See More

COLUMNIST TWEETS

  • A Twitter List by realmoney
About Privacy Terms of Use

© 1996-2021 TheStreet, Inc., 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10281

Need Help? Contact Customer Service

Except as otherwise indicated, quotes are delayed. Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes for all exchanges. Market Data & Company fundamental data provided by FactSet. Earnings and ratings provided by Zacks. Mutual fund data provided by Valueline. ETF data provided by Lipper. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions Group.

TheStreet Ratings updates stock ratings daily. However, if no rating change occurs, the data on this page does not update. The data does update after 90 days if no rating change occurs within that time period.

FactSet calculates the Market Cap for the basic symbol to include common shares only. Year-to-date mutual fund returns are calculated on a monthly basis by Value Line and posted mid-month.

Compare Brokers

Please Join or Log In to manage and receive alerts.

Follow Real Money's Wall Street Pros to receive real-time investing alerts

Already a Subscriber? Login