Jim Cramer says to consider an analyst’s call timeframe when investing

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday reminded investors to pay close attention to the scope of an analyst’s calls.

“In the crazy world of Wall Street, it’s not enough to think about the company or the sector or the asset class or the macro, including the [Federal Reserve] — you also need to consider the reaction and even the reactors themselves,” he said.

He used recent analyst calls on Advanced Micro Devices to illustrate his point:

Barclays upgraded the semiconductor maker to overweight from equal weight on Monday, sending the stock up 10%. A day later, Bernstein downgraded the company’s stock to market perform from outperform, citing concerns over a worsening PC market. Shares of AMD fell 2.39%.

Cramer said that in this case, neither analyst is necessarily wrong, because their arguments rely on different timeframes.

“The bearish analyst [is] right as rain because AMD’s business is awful now and shows no signs of improving, but over the long-haul, the bullish analyst is going to be right, because eventually, the semiconductor downturn will end,” he said.

Cramer added that while those periods of trading can be confusing, they can also be advantageous to investors, as long as they don’t act rashly.

“As we head into the heart of earnings season, I need you to understand that the reaction is often right, depending upon your time frame. However, it can also be wrong,” he said, adding, “Either way, if you have conviction, the reaction can often be a great opportunity to buy, buy, buy, or sell.”

Disclaimer; Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of AMD.