finance
Aug 17, 2026
Cramer's advice on Apple after analyst upgrade. Plus, why 2 chipmakers are up big
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Monday's key moments. 1. The S & P 500 dipped on Monday while oil prices edged higher amid ongoing Middle East uncertainty. The broad-market index was pulled lower by incendiary war remarks from President Donald Trump , along with threats from a senior Iranian official to escalate if diplomacy with the United States fails. Adding to the pressure, the market is still digesting last week's disappointing retail sales data, alongside rising bond yields. "That is a recipe for selling," Jim Cramer said. 2. But the semis saw big gains, with Club holdings Micron and Intel jumping 6% and 3%, respectively. Investors are celebrating signs of increased demand for Micron after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the Trump administration would not support Apple buying memory chips from China. Intel got a boost after it was revealed that CEO Lip-Bu Tan bought additional shares of the company, a strong sign of insider confidence. "If you feel that you don't have a tech that is related to the data center, it would be Intel. If you feel that you have to be in memory, it would be Micron," Jim said. "They're my two, and I'm not backing away." 3. Rothschild upgraded Apple to a buy from hold and upped its price target to $400 from $260. Analysts said a potential premium-priced foldable iPhone hasn't been fully appreciated by the market yet. Part of the call also said that Apple should explore a partnership with Nvidia in order to reduce its reliance on Google's Gemini. However, Jim doesn't advise buying Apple right now. Tim Cook will step down as CEO on Sept. 1, and analysts may begin downgrading the stock then. "I think that's wrong, but that's when I would pounce. Not yet," he said. 4. Stocks covered in Monday's rapid fire at the end of the video were SoFi , Okta and L3Harris . (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AAPL, INTC, MU, GOOGL, NVDA. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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.
