During a member Q&A on the July 17th episode of CNBC Mad Money Investing Club, Jim Cramer delivered sharp and unambiguous guidance for investors navigating late 2026.
Cramer’s core message was direct: sell Oracle (ORCL), avoid every liquor stock on the market, and rotate into cyclicals, defensives, and select semiconductors.
A member asked Cramer what to do with Oracle after holding it for two years, noting the stock has fallen roughly 6% over that period while paying a 1.6% dividend yield.
Cramer dismissed the question of entry price entirely, saying: “I don’t care where you bought a stock. I care where it’s going to, and I think that stock is going down.”
He added that Oracle “doesn’t fit in for what I would consider to be an IRA,” calling it “too risky” and recommending the member sell the position outright.
Oracle’s Q4 FY2026 results show Cloud Infrastructure revenue jumped 93% year over year to $5.79 billion, with remaining performance obligations surging 363% to $638 billion.
Despite those headline figures, full-year free cash flow was negative $23.69 billion against capital expenditures of $55.66 billion, with management planning to raise roughly $40 billion in FY2027 through debt and equity issuance.
The stock has fallen 47.64% over the past year and 33.43% in the past month alone, last trading at $126.78, underscoring the concerns Cramer raised about its risk profile.
On the spirits industry, Cramer was equally blunt, saying: “I know this liquor business is cold… I would not touch any liquor company right now. There are a lot of ones, the gins, the vodkas, the browns, they’re all doing terribly. You don’t need to try to call a bottom.”
Diageo (DEO) fits squarely within that warning, with North America identified by management as its biggest challenge amid soft market conditions and a contracting US Spirits segment.
Diageo shares are down 49.1% over the past five years, reflecting the sustained pressure weighing on the broader spirits sector that Cramer says investors should simply avoid.
Turning to what he favors, Cramer said: “I like the banks. I like the pharmaceuticals… I know it sounds crazy, but I love travel and aerospace. And then I will like tech when the big unwind is over, particularly some of the less speculative semiconductors that I think are really great.”
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) delivered a strong Q2 2026 with a large EPS beat, double-digit revenue growth, standout equity markets performance, and a sizable new share repurchase authorization, with shares up 22.34% over the past year.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) grew Q1 revenue at a high-single-digit pace, raised its dividend for a 64th consecutive year, and lifted its FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance, with the stock up 55.49% over the past year.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) posted a Q2 adjusted EPS beat, with premium revenue up double digits and a 15% dividend increase beginning in the September quarter, pushing shares up 25.89% year-to-date.
RTX Corporation (RTX) beat Q1 EPS estimates, grew free cash flow sharply year over year, and ended the quarter with a record multi-hundred-billion-dollar backlog spanning both commercial and defense segments.
On the semiconductor side, Nvidia (NVDA) reported Q1 FY2027 revenue growth above 80% year over year, with Data Center revenue climbing sharply and a fresh multi-billion-dollar buyback authorization announced alongside results.
Nvidia management has described the ongoing AI factory buildout as the largest infrastructure expansion in modern history, reinforcing the long-term demand thesis Cramer sees in less-speculative chip names.
Cramer’s late-2026 positioning is clear: exit Oracle and liquor, and build exposure in banks, pharmaceuticals, travel, aerospace, and carefully selected semiconductor companies with durable growth profiles.
