Melius says Apple needs to make a ‘bold move’ in AI — why Cramer agrees
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 stock market is starting the week higher, as investors await trade developments and the start of Big Tech earnings. Both the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit new all-time intraday highs early in the session. The money being pumped into the markets is “extraordinary,” said Jim Cramer, who cited several reasons, including President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” in his Sunday think piece. Meanwhile, political pressure is still mounting on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC Monday that he’s suggesting an entire review of the Federal Reserve, extending beyond the controversial building renovations. This follows reports that Trump disputed a piece in The Wall Street Journal that said Bessent talked him out of firing Powell due to economic and market impact concerns. The Club made a few trades Monday: We trimmed Abbott Laboratories , Danaher , and Eaton , and redeployed those funds to buy Cisco and TJ Maxx . 2. Meta Platforms got a price target raise at Morgan Stanley, to $750 from $650. Analysts cited two keys for second-half outperformance: strong quarterly results and guidance that show it hit an EPS of at least $30 in 2026; and proof its AI investments have been worth it by successfully launching next-gen Llama models and GenAI products. Jim compared Meta to the Steinbrenner family’s strategy of building the New York Yankees. “Let’s just get every great player and win the World Series. That’s Mark Zuckerberg. He wants to win the World Series so he goes into the free agency market,” Jim said, referencing Meta’s poaching of top AI execs. The company is set to report earnings next Wednesday, July 30. 3. Apple was again encouraged to buy AI startup Perplexity by Melius analyst Ben Reitzes. In a note to clients Monday, Reitzes said Apple’s stock would surge if it bought the AI-powered search engine and charged users $200 annually for a subscription. Apple should “move from toll taker to AI leader by any means necessary,” Reitzes wrote. The analysts also threw in the idea of partnering with Elon Musk and xAI. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analysts predict a solid quarter for Apple, but pointed out that the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google could jeopardizes Apple’s $20 billion search agreement. “I think the law has made it so Apple’s model is a failure. So they have to buy someone. It would be Perplexity,” Jim said. 4. Stocks covered in Monday’s rapid fire at the end of the video were: XYZ , Domino’s Pizza , Verizon Communications , Pinterest , and Target . (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long AAPL, ABT, CSCO, DHR, ETN, META, TJX . 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.
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