My top 10 things to watch Friday, Aug. 7 1. Futures rose after nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly fell 23,000 in July. Big miss from the projected 83,000 increase, according to Dow Jones. But the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%. The market’s first take was that this bad news for the labor market was good news for stocks, with bond yields falling as traders placed a lower chance of a Fed rate hike in September. 2. A New Mexico judge ordered Club name Meta Platforms to pay $567 million as part of a public nuisance case in the state. That’s on top of the $375 million in civil penalties imposed on Meta earlier this year over allegations its social-media platforms harm teen mental health. Meta will appeal. Not existential, as there is First Amendment protection. The dangerous cases are being brought by the attorneys general nationwide. 3. Atlassian is up over 30% this morning after the collaboration software maker, thought to be ruined by AI, reported a great quarter. Now a short-seller nightmare beckons. Bank of America upgraded to buy from hold. One after another, we’ve seen companies facing supposed existential AI risk turn in good numbers. Shopify and Duolingo did so earlier this week. In the end, will Adobe be the only one really hurt? 4. Cloudflare is also surging after fabulous earnings, up 15% premarket. Top- and bottom-line beats and really rosy guidance for the current quarter. The website security provider helps companies protect against AI crawlers. In cyber, we own CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks for the Club, though we recently booked profits after massive rallies. Important to lock in gains after stocks double. 5. Add Airbnb to the pile of earnings winners. Shares are up more than 7% premarket. Earnings and sales beat expectations. So did gross booking value, a measure of all bookings on the platform. Revenue guidance for the September quarter was strong. The travel bull market continues, echoing what Expedia and Booking Holdings said this week, too. 6. On the other hand, there’s Sweetgreen . The fast-casual salad chain slashed its full-year outlook for same-store sales, citing the cyclospora outbreak. Shares are down 13% premarket, on top of a 24% decline already over the past month. Profits elude this team. Been a brutal stock since the fall of 2024. 7. Bernstein downgraded Jeep and Dodge owner Stellantis to sell from hold. UBS went to hold from buy earlier this week. This one can’t catch a break. Sobering reality check. The underperformance versus Ford and General Motors is stunning. Stellantis is down 40% in the past year. Ford is up 22%, GM is up 64%. 8. Papa John’s was downgraded to hold from buy at both Benchmark and Stephens. Yesterday, the pizza chain reported weak results, lowered its full-year guide for profitability and same-store sales, and suspended its quarterly dividend. They’re really hurting, and so is Pizza Hut, which is in the process of being sold to private equity. Time to buy Domino’s ? 9. Wells Fargo downgraded Gap Inc to hold from buy on concerns about Old Navy. Analysts are worried about the product assortment and whether the value is still there. You have to be selective owning retailers. I like Ralph Lauren to play the high end and Club name TJX Companies on the value end. 10. The new CEO of Constellation Brands , Nick Fink, told a great story last night on “Mad Money.” This stock has been a dog in recent years, but he’s got the right ideas to revitalize the company and its shares. Non-alcoholic Corona is a bright spot, and they can put more money behind Pacifico to keep growth going. Staying vigilant about the impact of GLP-1s, too. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
