Walmart’s Inflation and Supply Chain Woes When you make $25 million a year, you better get it right, Cramer told viewers. Not only did Walmart’s CEO, Doug McMillan, not get it right this quarter, he failed in spectacular fashion.
It was just a few short months ago that Walmart forecast mid-single digit growth at its stores. Just a few short weeks later, sales were down by 1%, sending shares sharply lower as a result, off 11.3%.
What went wrong? In a word, everything. Walmart, the one company that should’ve had a handle on inflation, supply chains and Covid, lost control of all there.
Cramer said it’s hard to overstate how much went wrong for Walmart this quarter. This kind of humiliation would have never happened at Costco (COST ) – Get Costco Wholesale Corporation Report or Target (TGT ) – Get Target Corporation Report , he said.
“When the going got tough, Walmart’s management was nowhere to be found,” Cramer concluded.
Off the Charts In the “Off The Charts” segment, Cramer checked in with colleague Carley Garner over what’s next for energy prices with oil topping $112 a barrel.
Looking at a weekly chart of WTI crude futures, Garner noted that oil has already seen a year’s worth of price volatility in just the first five months of the year. What began as an expanding wedge pattern before the war in Ukraine quickly topped the trend line at the start of the war and hasn’t looked back.
On the positive side, crude’s relative strength indicator, or RSI, is in overbought territory, signaling that a decline in oil prices could be imminent. Cramer noted that if the war in Ukraine ends, that will definitely send oil sharply lower.
The monthly chart of WTI futures confirmed Garner’s findings. The RSI on this chart was also overextended and the ceiling for crude sits at the current $120 a barrel, with downside protection down all the way at just $70 a barrel.
Lightning Round In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on DraftKings (DKNG ) – Get DraftKings Inc Class A Report .
Cramer was bearish on Fisker (FSR ) – Get Fisker Inc Class A Report , Penn National Gaming (PENN ) – Get Penn National Gaming, Inc. Report and GrowGeneration (GRWG ) – Get GrowGeneration Corp. Report .
Executive Decision: Caterpillar For his final “Executive Decision” segment, Cramer checked in Jim Umpleby, CEO of Caterpillar (CAT ) – Get Caterpillar Inc. Report , the machinery maker that just completed its first in-person investor day in two years. Shares of Caterpillar were up 2.8% after the company announced a $15 billion share buyback program.
Umpleby said Caterpillar is powering the green energy revolution, helping companies around the globe mine for the minerals needed to make the batteries we all need. Caterpillar has also committed to the electrification of its fleet, and is investing heavily in the technology to make it happen.
Umpleby was also upbeat about Caterpillar’s service revenue stream, once again committing to doubling service revenues by 2026. At the end of the day, it’s all about making customers successful, Umpleby said, and since some Cat equipment can last for up to 60 years or more, keeping everything running smoothly is a top priority for customers.
When asked about supply chain issues, Umpleby said that Caterpillar has a great team and has been able to work through many of their issues.
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