Raphael Stevens

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

American Electric Power is confident in its cybersecurity defenses, CEO Nick Akins told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday.
“This industry has been obviously working with our government partners for a long time now, and we’re ready,” he said.

American Electric Power CEO Nick Akins told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday that the utility provider feels confident in its cybersecurity defenses.
“There’s no question that we’ve been in a heightened sense of security around the resiliency, particularly cyber and physical security. This industry has been obviously working with our government partners for a long time now, and we’re ready,” Akins said in an interview on “Mad Money.”

Akins’ comments were in response to a question from Cramer, who specifically asked the CEO whether the Columbus, Ohio-based electric utility would be “in good shape” if Russia attacked its power grid. AEP has 5.5 million customers across 11 states in the U.S.
The U.S. and European governments on Thursday announced additional sanctions targeting Moscow, after the Russian military invaded Ukraine following weeks of stepped up aggression toward its neighboring country.
As tensions between the Russia and the West intensify, it’s put the cybersecurity preparedness of institutions in other countries back in the spotlight, particularly those providing essential services. Russia has been known to use cyberattacks, and U.S. officials believe it was responsible for two recent incidents that crippled Ukrainian government websites, as well as those belonging to some banks in the country.
George Kurtz, the co-founder and CEO of CrowdStrike, said in a separate “Mad Money” interview Thursday that he’s spoken with executives at U.S. banks who are “very concerned” about Russian cyberattacks.
“And they should be,” Kurtz said, due to the widespread consequences that so-called wiper viruses can have. They are “designed to basically wipe a system,” Kurtz explained. “When we think about cyber, it has no boundaries for collateral damage.”

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday offered reasons that the U.S. stock market was able to overcome an early steep slide related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We’ve had ages to figure out that Russia would invade Ukraine. Our government has been warning us this would happen on an almost daily basis — one of the reasons we sold off so hard over the last few weeks,” the “Mad Money” host said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer offered reasons for Wall Street’s wild reversal Thursday, with the major U.S. stock indexes shaking off steep losses early in the session related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and finishing in the green.
“We’ve had ages to figure out that Russia would invade Ukraine. Our government has been warning us about this on a daily basis for many weeks — it’s one of the reasons we sold off so hard in the last few weeks.” the “Mad Money” host said. “There’s no surprise here, except we still can’t be sure how the war’s going,” he added.

Cramer’s comments come after Russia launched an air, land and naval attack on Ukraine after weeks of speculation about a possible invasion. The ongoing conflict may complicate an economic recovery already hindered by surging inflation and supply chain snarls, including the production of semiconductor chips, which both Russia and Ukraine play key roles in. 
Yet the U.S. stock market proved resilient on Thursday, making a monster recovery after a steep drop earlier in the day. The S&P 500 rose 1.5% after dipping more than 2.6% earlier, while the Nasdaq Composite rose around 3.3% after it was down almost 3.5% at one point. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied around 92 points after dropping 859 points earlier in the session.
Major equity indexes in Europe finished their sessions Thursday firmly in the red, including the pan-European Stoxx 600, which lost over 3%.
Cramer said that robust consumer spending and a healthy job market have helped the U.S. market stay afloat. Buyers might also be looking past Russia’s attack because they view President Joe Biden’s vow to implement wider economic sanctions against Russia as nonplausible, he added.
“Of course, the buyers could be wrong. If our government decides to do a rapid supply of munitions that can fight mechanized troops, that’s not factored in. Massive partisan resistance, not factored in … but at the moment buyers are betting that all of those are long shots,” Cramer said.

Despite the uncertainty, Cramer added that he doesn’t believe investors should empty their portfolios.
“I could play it like most commentators I have heard all day and yesterday: ‘just sell everything’ … I’ll leave that to everyone else” and look for buying opportunities instead, he said.

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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Switch Inc.: “Data center, red hot. If you understand the company, [insiders who were buying the stock] probably feel like, ‘Let’s take matters into our own hands and buy the stock.’ I think it’s a very inexpensive stock. It’s the kind of stock that can work.”

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FS KKR Capital Corp.: “I don’t know what they own. I mean, they obviously yield a lot, but that always makes me suspicious, not comfortable. I don’t think I’ve opened what they’ve got, and I can’t tell, so I’m going to say no.”

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BHP Group Ltd: “The dividend is rather large, given the fact that … the rest of the cohort is much slower. But I like BHP very much, I think it’s a good idea.”

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Linde PLC: “I was upset that Linde was down so much … The company had an unbelievable quarter, the business is incredibly strong, industrial gases are a great business. Why the hell the stock is now down so much, I agree with you, I think it’s a buy.”

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Autodesk Inc.: “I think it’s wait. We need to see a better quarter. That last quarter disappointed me, I felt like ‘wow, is that all you can do?’ Let’s wait.”
Disclosure: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Linde PLC.
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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz told CNBC some U.S. bank executives are worried about potentially being the target of Russian cyberattacks.
“They’re very concerned about what might happen here, and they should be” because cyberattacks can have widespread collateral damage, Kurtz said.
However, Kurtz said in general that American banks have invested adequately in cyber defenses.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz told CNBC on Thursday he’s been speaking with U.S. bank executives, and they’re worried about potentially being the target of Russian cyberattacks.
Kurtz’s comments on “Mad Money” came after Russia invaded Ukraine, intensifying geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West. The U.S. and European nations on Thursday issued further sanctions against Russia, including multiple financial institutions in the country.

“I’ve talked to a lot of banks recently, a lot of senior executives, and they’re concerned,” said Kurtz, noting his cloud-focused cybersecurity firm works with 14 of the 20 largest U.S. banks.
“They’re very concerned about what might happen here, and they should be,” Kurtz said, due to the widespread consequences that so-called wiper viruses can have. They are “designed to basically wipe a system. When we think about cyber, it has no boundaries for collateral damage.”
U.S. officials believe Russian agents were behind multiple cyberattacks targeting Ukrainian government websites this month, the most recent of which occurred Wednesday. Some Ukrainian banks were also affected.
Washington has accused Russians of unleashing a number of cyberattacks in recent years, such as the SolarWinds hack in 2020 that hit a number of U.S. government agencies, including the State Department.
Both the U.S. and Russia have “great cyber capabilities,” according to Kurtz, and he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that governments and corporations “have to be ready” because cyber will play a critical part in any modern war.

“Unfortunately, 85% of the infrastructure is owned by private companies, and when we think about that critical infrastructure, it isn’t always up to the level we would like from a cybersecurity perspective. We’ve seen that with some of the pipelines,” he said, possibly referring to last year’s Colonial Pipeline attack.
Asked specifically how U.S. banks have handled cybersecurity, Kurtz offered a favorable review.
“The banks, from a sector perspective, have done a great job. There’s a lot of regulation around what they do,” he said. “Thankfully, they have the money to actually put in a mature cybersecurity technology,” including his own company’s services.
It’s unclear what will happen next on the cyberattack front. However, Kurtz said the real concern has to be about a back-and-forth escalation.
“Part of the challenge in cyber is there really aren’t norms. I think a lot of the norms have been violated here in conventional warfare,” he said, “but there are no norms in cyber, so what happens with this escalation is really going to be interesting.”
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Beyond Meat’s stock tumbled after the company reported a wider-than-expected loss and shrinking revenue in its fourth quarter.
CEO Ethan Brown said in a statement that the company expects to “substantially moderate” the growth of its operating expenses in 2022.
The company’s revenue outlook for 2022 also fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Packages of Beyond Meat Inc.’s plant based meat products, Beyond Burger and Beyond Sausage, are displayed at a supermarket on November 19, 2020 in Katwijk, Netherlands
Yuriko Nakao | Getty Images

Beyond Meat on Thursday reported a wider-than-expected loss and shrinking revenue for its fourth quarter as it shifts its focus from slumping grocery sales to scaling its production for large fast-food launches.
The new year kicked off with the debut of KFC Beyond Fried Chicken, while February brought an expanded test for McDonald’s McPlant burger, which is made with Beyond’s beef patty substitute.

Despite the potential new business and a plan to cut back on spending, the company’s stock fell 11% in extended trading as its 2022 revenue outlook was disappointing.
Here’s what the company reported in the three months ended Dec. 31 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Loss per share: $1.27 vs. 71 cents expected
Revenue: $100.7 million vs. $101.4 million expected

Beyond reported fourth-quarter net loss of $80.37 million, or $1.27 cents per share, which is wider than its loss of $25.08 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were forecasting a loss of 71 cents per share.
Executives said higher costs came from the company’s choice to lean on more expensive co-manufacturing facilities rather than its own manufacturing plants for production. In addition to costing more, the shift also meant paying higher transportation and logistics fees.
“This allocation was the right decision, given the long-term importance of the supported projects,” CEO Ethan Brown said on the conference call with analysts.

Brown said in a statement that the company expects to “substantially moderate” the growth of its operating expenses in 2022, which could help it return to profitability.
“The investments we made in our team, infrastructure, and capabilities across the U.S., EU, and China, as well as extensive product scaling activities for key strategic partners, weighed heavily on operating expenses and gross margin during a fourth quarter and year that were already impacted by lower than expected volumes,” Brown said in the statement.
During the quarter, net sales dropped 1.2% to $100.7 million, falling short of expectations of $101.4 million.
U.S. grocery sales fell 19.5% to $49.98 million. Beyond attributed the slump to softer demand, increased discounts, loss of market share and five fewer shipping days compared with the year-ago period. After experiencing soaring demand in 2020, the company’s largest division by revenue has struggled to keep up that pace of growth.
On the conference call with analysts, Brown attributed some of the slowing growth to the company’s decision to focus on its restaurant business, rather than creating new grocery products, which typically drive demand. However, he said the return of in-store sampling, expanded distribution and new marketing should help revive grocery sales.
Brown also teased the coming launch of a product through the company’s joint venture with PepsiCo, which will reportedly be meat-free jerky. CFO Phil Hardin said the new product uses an “expensive process” that will drag down first-quarter profits, although costs should improve later in the year.
U.S. food service saw its sales climb 34.7% in the quarter to $20.63 million. Outside Beyond’s home market, international sales rose 22.6% to $30.07 million across both grocery and food service.
This marks the second consecutive quarter that Beyond has disappointed investors and analysts with its losses and revenue. The company said its third-quarter results were hurt by a number of factors ranging from the delta variant to distribution issues to a $1.9 million write-off tied to water damage at one of its plants.
Still, its fourth-quarter revenue falls within the outlook it provided to analysts in November of $85 million to $110 million as it forecast that some of the same operational challenges would drag down its results.
For 2022, Beyond is forecasting revenue of $560 million to $620 million, up 21% to 33% compared with the prior year. That outlook falls slightly below Wall Street’s net sales forecast of $637.3 million. Brown also said the company expects higher costs for the first half of 2022, although it will scale back on hiring and other spending.

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Shares of Nikola surged Thursday by more than 17% after the company reported a narrower-than-expected loss during the fourth quarter and confirmed revenue expectations for 2022.
Nikola projects it will generate revenue of between $90 million and $150 million in 2022 on deliveries of between 300 and 500 of EV semitrucks.
The results, in concert with a significant spike in oil prices tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, helped to spur an increase among electric vehicle stocks.

San Pedro, CA – December 17: The first two zero-emissions electric trucks, from an order of 100 vehicles, delivered from the Nikola Corporation to Total Transportation Services at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on Friday, December 17, 2021.
Brittany Murray | MediaNews Group | Getty Images

Shares of Nikola Corp. surged Thursday by more than 17% after the embattled electric vehicle start-up reported a narrower-than-expected loss during the fourth quarter and confirmed plans for truck production and revenue generation in 2022.
The pre-revenue company, which recently settled a federal probe into misleading investors, reported an operating loss of $90.4 million, or 23 cents per share. That compared with Wall Street’s expectations of a loss of 32 cents per share, according to analysts compiled by Refinitiv.

After hitting a new 52-week low of $6.41 a share Thursday morning, the stock closed at $8.04 a share, up by 17.7%. The stock remains down 20.8% in 2022.
Nikola said it expects to generate revenue of between $90 million and $150 million in 2022 on deliveries of between 300 and 500 of its first battery-electric semitrucks — known as the Nikola Tre — to customers.

Non-prototype production of the trucks at its plant in Coolidge, Ariz., is expected to begin on March 21, according to CEO Mark Russell. The company delivered its first nonsalable prototype models to customers and dealers in the previous quarter.
Nikola said it built 30 prototypes during the fourth quarter in Arizona, but only five were commissioned due to supply chain delays. It delivered another six trucks so far this year, the company said.
The results, in concert with a significant spike in oil prices tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, helped to spur an increase among electric vehicle stocks.

On a day when oil is over $100 a barrel, “we got more detail on a potential key player in new clean energy transportation,” Evercore ISI analyst Chris McNally said in an investor note Thursday.
McNally said Nikola largely beat Wall Street’s expectations regarding fourth-quarter results and guidance, adding that long-term funding remains “the key question.”
The automaker had a cash balance of $522 million at year-end, and it expects to spend between $295 million and $305 million in 2022.
– CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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