CNBC’s Jim Cramer was dumbfounded when he saw the market’s immediate response to Home Depot’s earnings miss, which the company said was driven by unfavorable weather.
“Within seconds, … we saw a flurry of articles about how there’s a slowdown in housing and even the great orange big-box chain couldn’t buck the trend,” the “Mad Money” host said Tuesday.
Earlier, on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Cramer told investors to wait and hear what Home Depot’s management said before drawing conclusions about the home improvement giant.
Sure enough, when the post-earnings conference call began, Home Depot’s stock began to stabilize “as if the sellers said, wait a second, maybe we’re overreacting,” he said.
Then, when Home Depot CFO Carol Tome took the floor and began to explain the weakness, Cramer saw the stock begin to bounce.
“Tome gave us the kicker when she pointed out that, ‘While spring was a reluctant bride, she has arrived and our stores have the inventory necessary to meet demand, which is a good thing, as month-to-date for the company our May comparable-store sales are double-digit positive,’” he said, quoting the CFO.
“I could see the sellers’ jaws drop,” Cramer quipped, noting that after Tome said her piece, the stock jumped further, all but erasing its earlier decline.
All things considered, the “Mad Money” host saw Home Depot’s Tuesday roller-coaster ride as a lesson in caution. It’s “crazy” to only look at the headline numbers and view them as the be-all, end-all for the housing market, he said.
“How could any journalists reach this conclusion without even listening to the conference call? It’s media malpractice,” Cramer said.
“Now, obviously, the market was terrible today so Home Depot’s stock still ended up getting slammed,” he continued. “Still, when you actually listen to the conference call, which I tell you you must, it’s clear that the only readthroughs from this quarter are positive, not negative. And, for the record, when a company as outstanding as Home Depot blames its problems on the weather, it may make sense, for once, to give them the darn benefit of the doubt.”
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