Cramer’s week ahead: FedEx’s warning shows the Fed is further along in fighting inflation than expected

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

“If Fed chief Jay Powell watched our interview last night … he might discover that he’s made more progress whipping inflation than he might realize,” Cramer said.

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

The “Mad Money” host’s comments came after FedEx, a bellwether company for the state of the economy, warned on Thursday of a decline in global shipments and an impending world recession.

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

Cramer also previewed next week’s slate of earnings. All earnings and revenue estimates are courtesy of FactSet.

Monday: AutoZone

• Q4 2022 earnings release at 6:55 a.m. ET; conference call at 10 a.m. ET
• Projected EPS: $38.5
• Projected revenue: $5.16 billion

Cramer said he’s interested in knowing if company officials see an end to the car shortage.

Tuesday: Nvidia

• GTC Financial Analyst Q&A at 1 p.m. ET

Cramer said he’s sticking with Nvidia despite the stock’s recent tumbles. “That’s how Nvidia behaves — you get terrifyingly swift moves down followed by long rallies.”

Wednesday: General Mills, Salesforce, Lennar, KB Homes

General Mills

• Q1 2023 earnings release at 7 a.m. ET; conference call at 9 a.m. ET
• Projected EPS: $1
• Projected revenue: $4.72 billion

The company will likely be a winner because it’s a best-of-breed food stock in an uncertain economic environment, Cramer predicted.

Salesforce

• Investor Day at 4 p.m. ET 

Cramer said that while he doesn’t expect to hear anything that could motivate him to buy the stock, he’s still bullish long term.

Lennar

• Q3 2022 earnings release at 4:30 p.m. ET; conference call on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET
• Projected EPS: $4.86
• Projected revenue: $8.97 billion

KB Home

• Q3 2022 earnings release between 4:10 to 4:20 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
• Projected EPS: $2.66
• Projected revenue: $1.88 billion

Cramer said he expects both Lennar and KB Home to be soft due to soaring mortgage rates.

Thursday: Costco, FedEx, Qualcomm

Costco

• Q4 2022 earnings release at 4:15 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
• Projected EPS: $4.17
• Projected revenue: $70.8 billion

Cramer said he hopes the stock goes down so that the Investing Club can buy more.

FedEx

While the company could reveal more information on its latest quarter, its trajectory likely won’t change since it already reported disappointing results in its preliminary announcement, Cramer said.

Qualcomm

• Automotive Investor Day at 3 p.m. ET

Cramer said that the company will show off the “new Qualcomm” during the event.

Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Costco, Salesforce, Nvidia and Qualcomm.