It’s a packed afternoon of developments affecting the portfolio’s 7 stocks
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch – an afternoon update that can work, during the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Stocks rose again on Thursday as investors shrugged off concerns about a major escalation in the military conflict between the US and Iran. That sent bond yields and oil prices down — two factors that have recently supported equities. The IS&P 500 gained nearly 1% in afternoon trading, while the Nasdaq jumped more than 1%. Meta Platforms initially traded lower after Reuters said a leaked internal document showed the company plans to ramp up its AI computing capacity next year. The market remains fragmented on Meta’s AI roadmap – rewarding new monetization opportunities (such as public cloud and AI models) while remaining wary of the capital expenditure required to get there. The company’s latest AI model fuels hope that this investment will eventually pay off. The company unveiled Muse Park 1.1 on Thursday, calling it “its most powerful agent and coding model to date.” What’s notable about the model is that Meta makes its application programming interface (API) available through a developer portal. The inclusion of API capabilities puts Meta in very direct competition with the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI. APIs are a bridge that allows two software programs to talk to each other. For the first time, Meta is providing APIs that allow developers to integrate its proprietary Muse Spark 1.1 model into external applications, an important step in building a commercial AI platform that can compete with OpenAI and Anthropic. Meta stock bounced back to higher levels as the session progressed. Cowen raised its price target for Cardinal Health to $275 per share from $255. The bump was part of a preview note for the drug’s second-quarter earnings and distribution from analysts. Cardinal Health’s next print is the fourth quarter of the company’s 2026 fiscal year, and Cowen expects Cardinal’s fiscal 2027 earnings per share (EPS) guidance to be above consensus, which currently stands at $12.04, according to FactSet. Shares touched $240 at one point this morning, but fell along with other health care names as the market pivoted back to technology. Cardinal Health and rivals McKesson and Cencora fell after FedEx announced the launch of FedEx Life Sciences, a dedicated organization created to support the transportation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biologics, and other important health shipments. The new plan is part of the company’s goal to grow FedEx Healthcare into a $10 billion business. This may not fit elsewhere for Cardinal Health, but the company does more than transport medicine from Point A to Point B. It provides inventory management, data reporting, new product launch support, and many other healthcare services that FedEx cannot provide. The bottom line is that we like the FedEx news, but it shouldn’t affect Cardinal Health. The news doesn’t stop – FedEx shares fell after a book called Supply Chain Dive wrote that Amazon is undercutting FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) by offering lower shipping rates to customers who want delivery. Amazon has always been the cost leader in the entire tracking industry, so it should come as no surprise that it offers the lowest prices. We see little impact on FedEx. CEO Raj Subramaniam told Jim Cramer at the company’s World Hub in Memphis that Amazon’s new shipping system only affects 2% of FedEx’s revenue. Also, Amazon’s system is currently best suited for companies with simple, low-cost goods. That’s the opposite of FedEx’s strategy. FedEx is pushing into verticals like health care, as we mentioned, as well as automotive, aerospace, and data centers. Instead of shipping cheap items, FedEx wants to gain a share in shipping products that weigh more than 50 pounds or have a higher value — two areas where customers are willing to pay a premium for speed, reliability, tracking, and security. Honeywell Aerospace is looking to expand its defense business overseas. Reuters reported on Thursday that the company is expected to export more defense products to Europe that do not have to go through US export controls. An announcement could come later this month at the highly anticipated Farnborough Airshow in Britain later this month. It is a smart move as rising defense spending in Europe is driving demand in the region amid growing concerns that Europe will no longer be able to survive under US protection. This trend doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. NATO allies recently agreed to more than double their spending by 2035. All of this bodes well for Honeywell Aerospace’s Defense & Space business, which accounts for about 40% of its total revenue. Honeywell Aerospace exited the Club Honeywell name late last month. The Club last bought more shares on Tuesday. Last, but not least – Starbucks stock rose more than 2.5% after Bloomberg reported that the coffee giant is looking to use AI to build internal software tools to replace those it pays for Microsoft and IBM. Jim Cramer responded to the news, saying that “it’s wild to think how many companies will switch from current systems to AI – especially after companies realize how much of a stock it is. [like Starbucks] it goes up if the company can figure out how not to rely on expensive programs.” No big earnings after Thursday’s closing bell. Delta Air Lines reports before Friday’s opening bell. No major economic data releases are scheduled for the final day of the trading week. (See here for a full list of stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust, including META, CAH, AMFT, FDX, FDXr on CNBC Investing Club and Jim Cramer, you will get an alert trading before Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charity portfolio If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing an ISBOX alert UNDER OUR TERMS AND PRIVACY POLICY , AND OUR DISCLAIMER GUARANTEED.
