Every weekday, Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club releases the Homestretch, a practical afternoon update to coincide with the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Stocks gave up their earlier gains and began to slide lower on Friday afternoon, putting the S&P 500’s seven-day winning streak in jeopardy. This has been a good week for the market, with the S&P 500 up about 3.5%, so it’s not surprising to see some profit-taking after such a big rally. We said in our morning meeting that we would adjust Broadcom’s position appropriately for Friday’s strength (but you can’t trade stocks for 72 hours, as Jim Cramer mentioned on CNBC TV). If there are no restrictions, keep an eye on trading on Monday. The rally will be put to the test this weekend when U.S. and Iranian representatives meet in Pakistan on Saturday for peace talks. As we approach the start of Q1 earnings season, we are making some changes to stocks that are trading above or near their price targets. We slightly raise our Dover price target from $220 to $230. With each business expected to grow this year and direct exposure to the Middle East being very limited, we believe 2026 is shaping up well for this diversified industrial company. We raise our price target on GE Vernova from $875 to $1,000, which is more in line with the recent views of several bullish analysts. Analysts in a Goldman Sachs earnings preview said they expected another fourth quarter of strong gas turbine orders and an uptick in GEV’s electrification division, which sells transformers, switchgear and other grid-wide products. Increase Corning from $160 to $180. On Friday, Lumentum CEO Michael Hurlston said the company’s optical components will be nearly sold out by 2028, suggesting strong demand and pricing power for fiber optics in general. Lumentum’s technology helps convert electrical signals into light, and Corning makes the optical fibers that carry light throughout data centers. Besides revenue, another potential catalyst would be for Corning to announce a multi-year supply agreement with a hyperscaler, like the one it signed with fellow club Meta in January. As hyperscalers compete to secure supply chains for AI infrastructure, more deals selling fiber, cable, and connectivity products are likely. Another positive update we have is regarding Linde. We raise our price target to $540 from $510, reflecting our view that the global helium shortage caused by the Middle East conflict will be a tailwind for the industrial gas supplier’s earnings. Linde could gain share in the helium market in the longer term by entering into long-term supply agreements with new customers. Meanwhile, we’re lowering our price targets for two software stocks: Salesforce and Microsoft. Both companies are under threat from AI and Anthropic taking over share of enterprise software. We do not believe that this overhang will be resolved any time soon, and the price/earnings ratio of the group as a whole is under pressure. For Salesforce, we lower our $250 price target to $215. For Microsoft, we’re going from $600 to $500. We have a Hold equivalent rating of 2 on both stocks and have no plans to add to either position at this time. Next week, several portfolio companies begin their first quarter earnings season. Announcements are expected from Goldman Sachs on Monday, and from both Johnson & Johnson and Wells Fargo on Tuesday. We’ll have a preview of all three club names in Sunday’s Week Ahead column. Next week will see some notable reports from JPMorgan, BlackRock, Citigroup, ASML, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, PepsiCo, Taiwan Semi, Abbott Labs, and Netflix. (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer Charitable Trust stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you will 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.
