The final month of 2025 has begun, and earnings season is coming to an end. Despite a number of headwinds, including continued inflation, slowing global growth, a record 43-day U.S. government shutdown, and geopolitical conflicts, third-quarter results were largely positive. 95% of S&P 500 companies beat earnings estimates, 83% beat earnings estimates, and 76% beat earnings estimates. Earnings growth was driven by technology, healthcare and finance, and revenue growth was driven by consumer staples, healthcare and technology. On the other hand, the stock market remains unstable. While the S&P 500 rose for the seventh consecutive month in November, the Nasdaq index fell 1.5% in November, ending its winning streak at seven months.Friday’s commentary discussed how to approach such a difficult situation. Here’s what we’re most excited about over the coming week. 1. Earnings: Among the portfolios, CrowdStrike will report third-quarter earnings after the close of trading on Tuesday, while Salesforce is scheduled to report after the close of trading on Wednesday. For CrowdStrike, The Street is looking to accelerate annual recurring revenue, which should benefit from the Falcon Flex sales model. During the conference call, we wanted to learn more about how the age of agent AI is driving the demand for cybersecurity as enterprises seek to protect their workloads and defend against increasingly complex automated attacks. As of Friday, TheStreet expected revenue of $1.215 billion and earnings of 94 cents per share, according to LSEG. At Salesforce, we want to learn more about adopting our AI product, Agentforce. This is key to reversing the bearish view on SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies stemming from advances in generative and agent AI products. The company isn’t sitting idle, and is innovating its services to counter the pressure on its traditional seat-license model due to corporate downsizing. As of Friday, TheStreet expected earnings of $2.86 per share on revenue of $10.27 billion, according to LSEG. 2. Black Friday: Of all the macro-level updates for next week, last weekend’s sales report may be the most impactful. Not only because of how important this holiday shopping season is for retailers, but also because spending trends provide important insight into the health of consumers. According to a recent CNBC survey, 82% of Americans say they still plan to shop this holiday season, but much of their spending will happen outside of the big day. Four in 10 people plan to cut back on spending, with the largest number of people planning to cut back on gifts. 3. Labor Update: The November nonfarm payrolls report, typically released on the first Friday of the month, was postponed to Dec. 16 due to the government shutdown. However, the November ADP jobs survey will be released on Wednesday and should carry slightly more weight than usual given the lack of data over the past few months. 4. A look at inflation: The September Personal Consumption Expenditures and Income Report, released on Friday, is a month late and two months out of date, but is still important because it provides insight into inflation trends through the core PCE price index (the Fed’s preferred inflation measure) included in the report. Other notable announcements include the November ISM Manufacturing Report on Monday, the September Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Report on Wednesday, and the October Factory Orders Report on Friday. All of these provide insight into manufacturing trends. The November ISM Service Report will be released on Wednesday, so we will also take a look at the state of the service economy. (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.
