Stocks bounce back, Linde impresses analysts, and Amazon announces Rx kiosks
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Market moves: Stocks were higher Wednesday, with both the S & P 500 and Nasdaq on track for record closes. Tuesday’s pullback broke the S & P 500’s seven-session win streak, but the index was bouncing back thanks to a rebound in AI infrastructure and technology stocks. Shares of Nvidia were up nearly 2% in Wednesday afternoon trading. In case you missed it , watch Jim Cramer’s special Monthly Meeting interview with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Fireside chats : Over the past few days, Linde’s management team has had fireside chats with analysts from Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas. Shares of the industrial gas giant were having a solid year, up about 12%. But shares were off to a slow start in October, like many other chemical stocks, over fears of a weakening macroeconomic environment. Both Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas shared a positive takeaway from their chats with management. Goldman said it remains favorable on Linde despite the macro headwinds. The analysts noted they “remain comfortable” in their view that Linde will deliver third-quarter results toward the high end of its guidance range. Linde has previously said the top end of its third quarter adjusted earnings per share outlook of $4.10 to $4.20 assumes an economic contraction. This outlook represents year-over-year growth of 4% to 7%. As for BNP, the analysts pointed out that CFO Matt White’s commentary about Linde’s different geographies and end markets was in line with the company’s prior assumptions. If there’s one change, currency could be a little more favorable than previously expected. We have long known Linde as a resilient company that consistently beats earnings estimates in both good times and bad. It also has a strong track record of outperforming peers due to its pricing power and execution on managing costs. Given the recent weakness in the stock and the broader macro uncertainty, hearing from management left us feeling more reassured in our position. Rx Kiosks : Amazon Pharmacy announced plans to launch in-office kiosks to help patients get their medications immediately after their appointments. The e-commerce and cloud giant will deploy electronic kiosks in One Medical primary care locations starting in December 2025 in the greater Los Angeles area, with expansions to other locations soon after, the company wrote in a press release. The kiosks will stock common, non-refrigerated medications, including antibiotics, inhalers, and blood pressure medications but will mostly be tailored to the prescribing patterns of the specific office location. This announcement is part of Amazon’s broader ambition of expanding health care access with Amazon Pharmacy and making it easier for patients to receive medications. This announcement poses a threat to CVS ‘ core pharmacy business, which stands at the center of its one-stop-shop retail health-care model. The mild drop in CVS shares on Wednesday suggests limited immediate implications. Amazon’s health care ambitions aren’t necessarily a core part of our investment case on the company, but if anyone can make a change in the sector, it would be Amazon. That’s because it already has a flywheel of services that Prime Members conveniently enjoy, whether that’s through online retail, grocery, video, and now its growing pharmacy service. The stock has been disappointing in 2025 relative to its “Magnificent Seven” peers. We continue to stress that Amazon Web Services needs to show a re-acceleration in revenue growth for the stock to resume its climb. Up next: There are no major earnings after the closing bell. PepsiCo and Delta Airlines report before the opening bell on Thursday. (See here for a full list of the stocks in 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.
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