Cramer's Earnings Preview for Tuesday

Of the dozens of companies scheduled to deliver earnings on Tuesday, "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer plans to monitor four reports in particular.

3M, one of Cramer’s favorite big cap companies, will release its results at approximately 7:30 a.m. ET, followed by an earnings conference call at 9 a.m. ET. Given the new products it's released lately and considering its overall strength in Asian markets, Cramer thinks 3M will report a strong quarter. If its stock tumbles nevertheless, Cramer told investors not to worry because the St. Paul, Minn.-based company has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years and currently sports a 2.7 percent yield.

Meanwhile, wireless provider AT&T will announce its quarterly numbers at 8 a.m. ET with an earnings conference call to be held at 10 a.m. ET. To Cramer, AT&T just doesn’t have the growth of rival Verizon Communications. He suspects AT&T could say it’s losing share to Verizon and its sales of the Apple iPhone. Apart from that, he thinks the downside will likely be minimal.

After the closing bell, Cramer will look for quarterly results from Panera Bread. Cramer thinks the bakery-cafe chain could report a strong quarter, but wants to hear more about recent changes in management.

In February, Panera's former chief financial officer Jeff Kip resigned to become chief financial officer at IAC/Interactive, which owns and operates many popular websites, including Ask.com and Match.com. The next month, Panera announced it would be led by two co-chief executives, namely founder and chairman Ron Shaich and Bill Moreton, who previously was the sole CEO. Then chief operating officer John Maguire resigned last week to become CEO of Friendly's Ice Cream. Panera named executive vice president Charles Chapman III as his successor.

Had Panera not experienced such a dramatic change in management, Cramer said he could have been more confident in the comapny's quarter.

Apple Store
Flickr: hairygrumpy
Apple Store

All eyes will be on Apple, though, as the technology giant will report earnings after the close. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company will release its results at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET, with an earnings conference call scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.

Cramer thinks Apple will likely report strong demand for its iPad and iPhone devices. Given the considerable hype surrounding the company, though, he thinks its results will really need to make a bang. He said Apple needs to beat not just the consensus estimates, but the highest estimates on Wall Street, which call for $11.80 of earnings per share and roughly $41 billion in revenues.

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—Read on for Cramer's full Earnings 'Game Plan' for the remainder of the week

—Reuters contributed to this report

When this story was published, Cramer's charitable trust owned Apple.

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