How Powell and the Fed might respond to the FedEx warning

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Friday that FedEx’s warning of worsening economic conditions suggests the Federal Reserve is handling inflation better than expected, meaning the central bank could take a step back after next week’s meeting.

“Had Fed Chairman Jay Powell watched our interview yesterday … he might find that he has made more progress on fighting inflation than he could have imagined,” Cramer said.

“Perhaps Powell will hit us with another 75 basis point raise right here and then say that maybe it’s time to take a more measured approach to assess how things are going,” he added.

The Mad Money host’s comments come after FedEx, the state-of-the-economy leader, warned on Thursday of lower global supplies and a looming global recession.

Stocks closed on Friday as Wall Street digested the news, with the major indexes recording their fourth losing week in the past five weeks.

Cramer also announced next week’s earnings report. All earnings and earnings estimates are provided by FactSet.

Monday: Autozone

• 2022 Q4 Earnings at 6:55 AM ET; conference call at 10 am ET
• Projected earnings per share: $38.5.
• Projected revenue: $5.16 billion.

Kramer said he was interested to see if company officials see an end to the car shortage.

Tuesday: Nvidia

• GTC Financial Analyst Q&A at 1pm ET

Kramer said he is staying with Nvidia despite the stock’s recent drop. “That’s how Nvidia behaves – you get terrifyingly fast drops followed by long rises.”

Wednesday: General Mills, Salesforce, Lennar, KB Homes.

General Mills

• 2023 Q1 Income Statement at 7:00 AM ET; conference call at 9 am ET
• Projected EPS: $1
• Projected revenue: $4.72 billion.

The company is likely to emerge victorious because it’s best-in-class food stocks in an uncertain economic environment, Cramer predicts.

sales department

• Investor Day at 4:00 pm ET

Cramer said that while he does not expect to hear anything that could prompt him to buy shares, he remains optimistic in the long term.

Lennar

• 2022 Q3 Earnings at 4:30 pm ET; Conference call Thursday at 11:00 AM ET
• Projected EPS: $4.86
• Projected revenue: $8.97 billion.

Main page of KB

• 2022 Q3 Earnings 4:10 pm to 4:20 pm ET; conference call at 5:00 pm ET
• Projected earnings per share: $2.66.
• Projected revenue: $1.88 billion.

Cramer said he expects both Lennar and KB Home to be soft due to the steep rise in mortgage rates.

Thursday: Costco, FedEx, Qualcomm

Costco

• 2022 Q4 Earnings at 4:15 pm ET; conference call at 5:00 pm ET
• Projected earnings per share: $4.17.
• Projected revenue: $70.8 billion.

Cramer said he hoped the stock would drop so the Investor Club could buy more.

FedEx

While the company may reveal more about its latest quarter, its trajectory is likely to remain unchanged as it already reported disappointing results in its pre-announcement, Cramer said.

Qualcomm

• Automotive Investor Day at 3:00 pm ET

Cramer said the company will showcase the “new Qualcomm” during the event.

Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust holds shares in Costco, Salesforce, Nvidia, and Qualcomm.