Home Depot makes another pro deal — plus, what’s behind Corning’s big rally
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. Markets were mostly lower Tuesday as uncertainty over the Iran war continues. There was a comeback in the works earlier in the session, but stocks gave up their gains after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon plans to send 3,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. Officials told the Journal that no decision has been made on whether to send ground troops into Iran. Oil was moving higher again, with West Texas Intermediate crude up about 5% to $92 per barrel. Bond yields were rising as well, with the 10-year Treasury yield around 4.41%. Corning has been a top performer this week , driven by strong back-to-back gains. The roughly 9.5% surge on Tuesday alone comes after a fiber optic networking company, Applied Optoelectronics , announced that a major hyperscale customer placed a new order for 800G single mode-data center transceivers to help expand its network capacity for AI-driven workloads. Applied Optoelectronics, whose stock soared nearly 20% on the news, said the order was worth more than $53 million, and it’s expected to be the first of many. Rosenblatt Securities analysts speculated that the order was from Oracle . The announcement is sparking a rally across optical names, with Corning, Lumentum , and Coherent some of the biggest gainers. Fiber optic cables are what plug directly into transceivers. As for Corning, we’re still watching to see whether it announces additional multiyear strategic partnerships similar to the up-to-$6 billion agreement it struck with Meta Platforms in January. Optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions are critical components of data center buildouts, and hyperscalers may be wise to secure supply in advance. Home Depot said Tuesday its SRS Distribution subsidiary is buying Mingledorff’s , a leading wholesale distributor of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment with 42 locations across five states in the southeastern United States. Home Depot said that HVAC distribution has a $100 billion total addressable market (TAM), and this deal increases Home Depot’s TAM to $1.2 trillion. The acquisition fits with Home Depot’s strategy of increasing its offerings to better serve professional customers. Terms weren’t disclosed, but Home Depot said this deal won’t impact its anticipated return to a 2x leverage ratio by the end of fiscal 2027 second quarter. We should see Home Depot resume share buybacks around this time. After Tuesday’s closing bell , KB Home and GameStop report earnings. On Wednesday morning, it’s Chewy , Cintas , Paychex , and Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings , formerly Pinduoduo. There are no major economic releases on Wednesday. (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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