Cramer's week ahead: Earnings from Burlington, Best Buy, Kohl's and Dell

Jim Cramer said next week’s short Thanksgiving trading week is unusually data- and earnings-heavy, with Zoom reporting Monday and retail sales and pending-home-sales data on Tuesday alongside a raft of retailer reports (Kohl’s, Best Buy, Burlington, Dick’s, Abercrombie & Fitch); he expects a decent quarter from Zoom despite Microsoft Teams competition, anticipates softer retail and housing prints that could boost the case for Fed cuts, and thinks Kohl’s and Best Buy will be fine while Dick’s — boosted by its Foot Locker acquisition — could outperform, Burlington looks weakest and Abercrombie is a “crapshoot.” Dell, HP, Zscaler and Analog Devices also report Tuesday (Cramer is constructive on Dell and Zscaler, cautious on HP and Analog), Deere reports Wednesday and is viewed as resilient given farmer spending and subsidies. Disclosure: the CNBC Investing Club holds Microsoft and TJX.

Analysis

Jim Cramer frames next week’s short Thanksgiving session as unusually earnings- and data-heavy, highlighting Zoom reporting Monday with an expectation of a “decent quarter” despite competition from Microsoft Teams and his public wish that Zoom pursue M&A to broaden its offering. He flags a slate of Tuesday releases — retail sales, pending home sales, and retailer earnings — and explicitly expects softer macro prints, arguing weaker data could increase the likelihood of future Fed cuts; the signals dataset registers a mildly positive overall sentiment (0.25) and a market impact score of 0.35. Cramer’s retailer read is granular: he sees Kohl’s (KSS) and Best Buy (BBY) as likely to be “fine,” views Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) as a potential outperformer following its Foot Locker acquisition, labels Burlington (BURL) the weakest of the off-price cohort, and calls Abercrombie (ANF) a “total crapshoot.” He is constructive on Dell (DELL) and Zscaler (ZS), cautious on HP (HPQ) and Analog Devices (ADI), and describes Deere (DE) as unusually resilient given farmer subsidies and steady spending; per-ticker sentiment scores align with these views (e.g., DKS 0.5, DELL 0.5, ZS 0.4, BURL -0.5, ANF -0.6, ADI -0.4).

Key Decisions for Investors

• Monitor Zoom’s quarter and management commentary on competition and M&A as a catalyst for near-term stock moves,
• Favor tactical exposure to DKS and maintain positions in BBY and KSS if quarterly results meet expectations,
• Underweight or hedge BURL and ANF given negative sentiment and Cramer’s view of weak execution,
• Reduce or hedge exposure to HPQ and ADI into results given expressed caution and elevated downside risk,
• Watch Tuesday’s retail sales and pending-home-sales prints closely because softer data could lift rate-cut expectations and benefit rate-sensitive sectors; also discount Cramer’s positive calls on MSFT and TJX due to disclosed holdings