Estee Lauder jumps 5% on an analyst upgrade — our take on the cosmetics stock

Published Thu, Mar 28 202411:54 AM EDT

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Thursday's key moments. U.S. stocks were flat on Thursday as the S & P 500 headed towards its strongest first-quarter performance in half a decade. The benchmark gauge advanced roughly 10% over the period, with communication services and tech — Nvidia and Meta Platforms were big winners — leading the gains. But the action has really broadened out. We're seeing a recent pick-up in sectors like energy, financials and industrials, lending a hand to Club holdings like Coterra Energy , Wells Fargo and Dupont De Nemours . "This was a quarter about earnings and these companies are earning a lot of money," Jim Cramer said. On Friday, the government releases February personal income and spending data, which includes the Fed's favorite inflation gauge: the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. The stock market is closed for the holiday, so we'll have to wait until Monday to see the reaction from investors. Estee Lauder shares jumped more than 5% Thursday after Bank of America upgraded the stock to a buy rating from hold, citing recovery expectations around profits. The firm also raised its price target to $170 apiece from $160, a 17% upside from Wednesday's closing level. Estee Lauder's been a big laggard for the portfolio, and we've held it through a slew of awful quarters. The Club hopes to see improvements, but we remain guarded. Management announced Wednesday that Estee Lauder's Clinique brand will debut on the U.S. Amazon Premium Beauty store. This is important because the retailer has been losing share in the U.S., and hopefully this will make the brand more competitive against peers. The Club initiated a position in Best Buy on Wednesday. The consumer electronics retailer has been dealing with a multi-year hangover from an early Covid-19 sales boom when many were rushing to buy new computers, televisions and other appliances. That should change in 2024 because these products typically have a three to seven year refresh cycle. Jim argued that the industry will see the "biggest refresh ever." New innovations such as generative AI integration should start to drive upgrades, in turn boosting demand for Best Buy's offerings. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long BBY, AMZN, EL, CTRA, WFC, DD, NVDA, META. 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.