Mad Money

Cramer Remix: What critics were missing about Apple’s business

Key Points
  • "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer revealed the juicy detail about Apple's business model that most critics didn't take into account.
  • Cramer also sits down with the CEOs of Henry Schein and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
  • In the lightning round, Cramer makes the case for sticking with some oil stocks.
Cramer Remix: What critics were missing about Apple’s business
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Cramer Remix: What critics were missing about Apple’s business

CNBC's Jim Cramer knows all too well that the market can't be driven solely by FANG, his ubiquitous acronym for the stocks of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google, now Alphabet.

"On a great day for the bulls where the Dow gained 178 points, the advanced 0.45 percent, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.69 percent to a new all-time high, I think we need a new acronym for tech," the "Mad Money" host said Monday. "FANG's just not cutting it anymore because the gains are no longer limited to [that cohort]."

"If you want to understand the strength in the Nasdaq, you need a new acronym," Cramer continued. "So say hello to INJFANG, as in 'It's Not Just FANG' anymore."

First, Cramer turned to Apple, one of his favorite consumer products companies. Shares of the iPhone maker hit record highs on Monday as its annual developer conference kicked off.

Apple has long been the target of critics on Wall Street who worried about declining hype around the newest iPhones, supply chain issues and the like.

"But what these critics were missing is that Apple doesn't just have the most loved, best tech for its cellphones, it's got a razor-razorblade business model that can't be beaten," Cramer said. "That means people buy the phone and pay for services directly from Apple or buy some of the developer apps on display today at the big conference and Apple gets a cut of each one."

Off the charts: Taco 'bout a comeback

John Cappasola, CEO, Del Taco
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

As restaurant stocks rise in lockstep with consumer sentiment and job growth, Cramer recruited technician Bob Lang to find the best investments in the dining space.

Lang, the founder of ExplosiveOptions.net and part of TheStreet.com's Trifecta Stocks newsletter team, found three fast-casual chains doing particularly well: Chipotle, Del Taco and El Pollo Loco.

"At a time when some people have been worried about rising raw costs and increased competition, ... these three companies have been putting on a pretty good show," Cramer said on Monday.

So, to explain why Lang thought all three stocks could outperform the broader restaurant sector in the near term, Cramer turned to Lang's technical analysis.

Reflecting on Italy panic

The Italian flag waves over the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy May 30, 2018.
Tony Gentile | Reuters

A week ago, Cramer was trying to placate investors' fears about a political crisis in Italy, which sent global markets reeling and resulted in the appointment of a new prime minister.

A spike in Italian bond yields sparked the concerns. But now, one week later, they've recovered to their pre-crisis levels, making Cramer wonder why investors were so spooked in the first place.

"Some investors hate anything that threatens the status quo, even in a place like Italy where the status quo is objectively kind of terrible," the "Mad Money" host explained on Monday.

Others, he said, are so skittish that they balk at any and all uncertainty, even if it doesn't apply to the United States, "because they are trained to react to any new input with fear."

Still, what concerned Cramer most about the Italy debacle was not how investors reacted to the news, but the lack of context with which it was reported.

Henry Schein talks partnership with WebMD parent

Stanley Bergman, CEO, Henry Schein
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

The stock may not show it, but Henry Schein is making moves that will set the company up to meet its earnings expectations, Chairman and CEO Stanley Bergman said on Monday.

The medical, dental and veterinary supplies maker recently entered a joint venture with Internet Brands, the parent company of WebMD, called Henry Schein One that Bergman said will help streamline the dentistry practices his company serves.

"On the dental side, they have software that also generates demand for visits to the dentist," Bergman, who was named CEO of the Year in 2017, told Cramer in an interview. "With our practice management systems, and we have the leading practice management systems throughout the world ... you put the two together and we believe we can help dentists operate a more efficient practice so that they could provide better clinical care."

Paired with Henry Schein's recent spin-off of its animal health business, which it plans to merge with Vets First Choice, a tech-focused start-up that helps streamline veterinary care.

"Between ... Henry Schein One and Vets First Choice, we'll be generating somewhere between $120 [million] and $130 million of accretion over the next three years," the CEO said. "You put that together with all our ordering capabilities, we have a great offering for the years to come."

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts CEO on the Airbnb threat

Geoff Ballotti, the CEO of Wyndham's hotel-focused spinoff Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, doesn't see travel disruptor Airbnb threatening the areas where his company operates.

There's "always too much made" of the Airbnb threat, Ballotti told Cramer in a "Mad Money" interview on Monday, "especially in the economy, in the mid-scale segment[s], in the non-urban suburban roadside environments in which we play."

But the CEO said that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a strategy when it comes to millennials, whom many see as the success drivers for "sharing economy" companies like Airbnb.

"What we are doing, Jim, with our economy brands is elevating the experience," he told Cramer. "We believe that for far too long, millennials have wanted an upscale experience at an economy price and that's what we're doing with all of our brands. And to see our brands so nationally ranked and the health that they are enjoying today – take Days Inn, which years ago was ranked tenth. It's now third place on the J.D. Power rankings and we want to see continue to move up."

Lightning round: Playing the Permian

In Cramer's lightning round, he flew through his take on callers' favorite stocks:

Diamondback Energy: "This is all about the glut of oil. There's a traffic jam at the Permian and that's making it so that [Diamondback] and a couple others are really being hurt. I would stick with it."

Valero Energy Corp.: "There's still a very big spread between the Permian [Basin] oil and the rest of the country and therefore I think Valero still works. I hate to buy a stock at its 52-week high, but I do think Valero is an up stock, as is Holly [Energy Partners], as is, by the way, Marathon [Petroleum]."

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet and Apple.

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