What Cramer is watching Wednesday — retail sales strong, Lowe's delivers, Estee Lauder love

Published Wed, Nov 16 20229:03 AM EST

What I am looking at Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022 U.S. stock futures point to a mixed open as investors digest stronger than expected October retail sales. Bond yields turn positive, with 2-year Treasury hitting 4.4%. Target's weak holiday guidance overshadowing Lowe's quarterly strength, though. Target (TGT) shares sink 15% in the premarket. Looks like a cadence collapse with a bad October and a weak start to November, leading to promotional activity particularly in discretionary. Quarterly earnings per share in third quarter: $1.54 versus $2.13 expected. Revenue: $26.52 billion versus $26.38 billion expected. Big three year plan to bring down costs. Target says shoplifting up 50% year over year; cost so far this year is $400 million. Though, food strong. Lowe's (LOW) much better quarter and comparable stores, better than Home Depot, which was thought to be more professional and less do-it-yourself. Disposable income and equity in home. Home improvement very strong, Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison tells CNBC. Pros and DIY both strong. Third-quarter EPS: $3.27 versus $3.10 expected. Revenue: $23.48 billion versus $23.13 billion expected. Millennial buyer coming into the market — 250,000 new ones, according to Ellison. Raymond James downgrades Home Depot (HD) to market perform from outperform (hold from buy), sees a major housing correction coming. Price target cuts at JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Piper Sandler. Separately. Dallas Fed talking about a possible 20% decline in home prices, which could cause a hit on consumption. Walmart (WMT) much love, with price target increases at major Wall Street research firms including Citi, BofA, Raymond James, RBC Capital, UBS and Deutsche Bank. Oppenheimer raises Club holding Estee Lauder (EL) price target to $245 per share $230. Analysts there like the $2.8 billion Tom Ford acquisition. Looks like it is a huge defensive play and I wonder if EL is going to start looking more like LVMH or L'Oreal. Bank of America raised PT to $230 from $215. Keeps neutral (hold) rating. Bofa also likes the deal and thinks it will give Estee Lauder $800 million to $1 billion in sales. Piper Sandler likes the deal, too. Amazon (AMZN) lays off 10,000. But the big layoffs may not come until after Christmas? The e-commerce and cloud giant has more than 1.54 million employees worldwide. Club holding Amazon r emains a show-me stock , but we're encouraged by some positive Wall Street commentary. Carnival (CCL) plunges 13% in the premarket. Does $1 billion in convertible senior notes. This one keeps financing. CCL decline drags cruise stocks lower. Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) CEO Jason Liberty tells CNBC that bookings are strong as people go for experiences instead of stuff. Mizuho says time to buy Block (SQ) because of payday lending; raises PT to $69 per share from $57. Russians launched the most missile strikes against Ukraine infrastructure since the war began. Club holding Apple (AAPL) going to TSMC (TSM) for second source on chips, not China? KeyBanc likes Club bullpen stock Palo Alto Networks (PANW): Keeps an overweight (buy) rating but cuts price target to $210 per share from $227. Donald Trump is back , announcing a third run for president. Impact? Unsure this early. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long EL, AMZN and AAPL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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.

A Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse store is seen on August 17, 2022 in Houston, Texas.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

What I am looking at Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022

U.S. stock futures point to a mixed open as investors digest stronger than expected October retail sales. Bond yields turn positive, with 2-year Treasury hitting 4.4%. Target's weak holiday guidance overshadowing Lowe's quarterly strength, though.
Target (TGT) shares sink 15% in the premarket. Looks like a cadence collapse with a bad October and a weak start to November, leading to promotional activity particularly in discretionary. Quarterly earnings per share in third quarter: $1.54 versus $2.13 expected. Revenue: $26.52 billion versus $26.38 billion expected. Big three year plan to bring down costs. Target says shoplifting up 50% year over year; cost so far this year is $400 million. Though, food strong.
Lowe's (LOW) much better quarter and comparable stores, better than Home Depot, which was thought to be more professional and less do-it-yourself. Disposable income and equity in home. Home improvement very strong, Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison tells CNBC. Pros and DIY both strong. Third-quarter EPS: $3.27 versus $3.10 expected. Revenue: $23.48 billion versus $23.13 billion expected. Millennial buyer coming into the market — 250,000 new ones, according to Ellison.