Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! Amdocs Anxiety
TheStreet.com Staff
01/11/07 - 02:59 PM EST
Don't rush to judgment on
Amdocs (DOX Quote), Jim Cramer said Thursday on CNBC's Stop Trading! segment.
Cramer said the Chesterfield, Mo., maker of telephone billing software "has been a great performer," so he's loath to give up on it after Thursday's soft revenue forecast. Still, with the stock down 10% following a series of downgrades, there is the worry that the company's business has been undermined by telco consolidation and spending cuts.
"This is of concern," Cramer said of the warning. But he said investors "can't make a snap judgment," given how solid management has been in the past.
Cramer also cautioned that a strong dollar will pressure earnings gains at big consumer products companies like
Colgate (CL Quote),
Procter & Gamble (PG Quote) and
Kellogg (K Quote), and drugmakers like
Merck (MRK Quote) and
Pfizer (PFE Quote).
Cramer said the rebound in the greenback means that analysts "can't expect to raise numbers" as much for these companies. One exception, Cramer said, comes with companies that have a "strong secular growth story," such as charitable portfolio holding
Altria (MO Quote). Cramer said he would trim holdings like Colgate and Pfizer ahead of earnings, which start in earnest next week.
Cramer made a similar comment about
Caterpillar (CAT Quote), which he noted is "going up against overseas competition" that could prevent the "radical bump-up in numbers" that Cramer says he would otherwise expect.