My Top 10 Things to Watch Thursday, November 20th 1. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were headed for a rally this morning as Nvidia’s great quarter reignited confidence in the artificial intelligence industry. In response to this result, Club Holdings’ Broadcom shares rose 4%, and stocks related to the AI industry, such as club name Eaton, rose more than 2%, pushing up semiconductor stocks. In terms of economic indicators, the September employment report, which was postponed due to the government shutdown, showed that the US economy increased non-farm payrolls much more than expected. 2. NVIDIA stock rose 5% this morning after the chipmaker answered its critics last night. It wasn’t a circular, so-called lazy susan AI spending show. Nvidia’s customers are making money like there’s no tomorrow. The list of customers is much larger than hyperscalers. Naysayers are missing the point. Nvidia aims to become the hardware platform of the world’s software platform. 3. The club that owns Palo Alto Networks posted a better-than-expected quarter last night and raised its full-year outlook. The cybersecurity giant has scored several huge contracts while waiting for its acquisition of CyberArk to close. Palo Alto announced plans to acquire AI observability platform Chronosphere in a $3.35 billion deal. Annual recurring revenue, an important indicator, was also strong. The company’s performance has been excellent. 4. Mr. Block presented his three-year financial outlook and stated that gross profit is increasing in the mid-teens each year. This is an accelerated growth path that goes back to the rule of 40. CashApp’s 58 million users and Square’s killer app should lead to faster growth. Blocks are not a play on cryptocurrencies. Following yesterday’s investor day, Mizuho raised its price target on the stock from $88 to $100. 5. Abbott Laboratories today announced plans to acquire cancer test maker Exact Sciences in an all-cash transaction valued at $21 billion. Exact Sciences’ stock soared 18% on the news, while Abbott’s stock was flat. The acquisition marks a major expansion for Abbott into cancer screening with preventive diagnostic devices. 6. IBM and portfolio name Cisco today announced a quantum computing partnership. The companies said they hope to prove that quantum computers can be networked within five years. Cisco is working on quantum networking, and IBM is working on quantum computers with the goal of having them up and running by 2029. Both stocks rose this morning, as did pure quantum stocks like D-Wave and Rigetti. 7. Citi lowered Williams-Sonoma’s price target from $202 to $188. Analysts affirmed their ratings but updated their models yesterday after the household goods maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results, but said they expected further tariff headwinds this quarter. CEO Laura Alber said last night that she hoped to see “stabilization at the end of the year” at Mad Money. 8. Walmart this morning reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results, driven by double-digit growth in its e-commerce business. The company also raised its sales and profit forecasts. On paper, the stock price rose more than 3%. The club owns Costco, whose stock price has been depressed. I think of Costco as something to buy. 9. The club that owns TJX has received significant price target increases several times. Bank of America raised PT from $160 to $168 and maintained a Buy rating. Citing yesterday’s beat-and-raise, analysts said TJX’s consistency “is rare and should enable continued multiple expansions.” The club raised its price target for TJX from $150 to $160. 10. Wall Street analysts flooded with price target reductions. Bernstein maintained a sell rating and lowered PT to $80 from $87. Target saw a slowdown in its physical stores and e-commerce. As I said yesterday, Target needs a reboot, but TJX is best in class. Target stock rose modestly this morning after falling nearly 3% in a disappointing quarter. Sign up for free for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Markets email newsletter (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer Charitable Trust stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you’ll receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he will issue a trade alert and then wait 72 hours before executing the trade. The above investment club information is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, along with our disclaimer. No fiduciary duties or obligations exist or arise from your receipt of information provided in connection with the Investment Club. No specific results or benefits are guaranteed.
