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Cramer 'stunned' by analysts' lack of respect for Apple CEO Tim Cook

Cramer 'stunned' by analysts lack of respect for Apple CEO Tim Cook
VIDEO8:2208:22
Cramer 'stunned' by analysts lack of respect for Apple CEO Tim Cook

Jim Cramer thought Apple reported a fantastic quarter on Tuesday. Yet, the analysts on the conference call made investors feel like Apple could face real trouble.

"I was stunned by the analyst community's lack of respect for CEO Tim Cook when I listened to the call," the "Mad Money" host said.

Cramer's first bone to pick was with Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty, who gave Apple an overweight rating, and asked CFO Luca Maestri for help to figure out the company's guidance "given all the major projects are running below target."

While Apple gave conservative guidance, Cramer pointed out that the iPhone 7 has tremendous demand. Huberty also asked about the doubled R&D budget in the past three years, while sales growth is less than that.

Cook responded by saying that the company has spent a lot of money building a services business that generated $6.3 billion in revenue and has a 24 percent accelerating growth rate.





The Apple Shocker

I don't know what's wrong with these analysts with their faux buy recommendations, but I think they could benefit from some therapy.
Jim Cramer
Tim Cook
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

It got even worse for Cramer when Sanford Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi asked Cook why Apple doesn't do better than "flattish" growth given that its largest competitor is in disarray and the company has a new product. He asked what investors should think about the iPhone going forward, and whether it is reasonable to think it is a growing business going forward.

"Whoa! Apple just posted $46.9 billion in sales and $9 billion in quarterly net income, substantially better than people expected 90 days ago when we thought it would be a terrible quarter. By the way Sacconaghi asked that question, you would have thought the company has no future," Cramer said.

While these are just two examples, Cramer could not ignore the level of contempt and disrespect for Apple, especially considering how positive some of the same analysts are about IBM, Oracle and Microsoft. Meanwhile, IBM has been on a decline for five years, and Cramer found the tone of the call to be far more respectful.

"Apple is held to a higher standard, even though it has one of the cheapest stocks out there. I don't know what's wrong with these analysts with their faux buy recommendations, but I think they could benefit from some therapy," Cramer said.

Cramer still held firm on his advice to own Apple, not trade it, even after what he considered to be a successful quarter for the company.


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