Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets: U.S. stocks were on track to end the week higher, capping off a strong stretch that saw the S & P 500 climb more than 4%. The week began on a rough note, with a nasty sell-off Monday sparked by investors’ concerns about President Donald Trump ‘s criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the lack of trade deals over the long holiday weekend. However, sentiment improved as the harsh rhetoric against the Fed chief eased and the Trump administration offered a more optimistic tone about trade deals and tariffs on China. Meanwhile, about one-third of S & P 500 companies have reported their first-quarter earnings. The results have been more resilient than what the recent market sell-off had suggested, even as analysts lowered estimates for the remainder of the year. New idea : We’re adding GE Vernova to our Bullpen watchlist. This company makes and services power equipment through three operating segments: power, electrification, and wind. The overarching theme here is that the world is in serious need of more power. Electricity is at the heart of nearly every big mega trend we discuss, like AI infrastructure and reindustrialization. GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said it best on the company’s earnings call this week: “The world is entering an era of accelerated electrification driven by manufacturing growth, industrial electrification, EVs and emerging data center needs, which is driving an unprecedented need for investment in reliable baseload power, grid infrastructure and decarbonization solutions.” GEV YTD mountain GE Vernova YTD The impact of the accelerated demand is evident in GE Vernova’s quarterly results. The company reported strong first-quarter earnings earlier this week, with revenue up 15% year over year and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) increasing by $300 million. That was supported by a 170 basis point improvement in margins. Free cash flow significantly improved year over year as well. But what’s most impressive here is the orders GE Vernova continues to book. The company booked $10.2 billion of orders in the first quarter and the backlog increased to $123 billion. The company has so much business that it believes it is largely sold out for 2026 and 2027, and 2028 is starting to fill out. We call this a high-quality problem. GE Vernova shares have roared back this week but are still significantly down from their pre-DeepSeek, pre-“Liberation Day” all-time high close of $437.71 on Jan. 23. Next week : It’s a big one. About one-third of both the S & P 500 and Club portfolio are scheduled to report earnings. The 10 portfolio earnings we’ll be focusing on are Honeywell , Starbucks , Microsoft , Meta Platforms , Linde , Eli Lilly , Amazon , Apple , Eaton , and DuPont . It’s also a critical week of economic data. Not only will we see an important inflation reading in the March PCE price index, the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, and first quarter GDP, but more April data will also start to flow through, providing us with a look into how Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs may or may not have impacted the economy. A few of the key economic reports are the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey, ISM manufacturing, and the government’s monthly nonfarm payrolls report. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.
www.cnbc.com
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