Cramer's 'Mad Money' Follow-Up: Earnings Beats

In Thursday's "Mad Money" TV show, Jim Cramer said that most of the earnings beats this season have been the result of cost-cutting measures, while business has not improved. He offered examples in Starbucks(SBUX Quote) and NYSE Euronext(NYX Quote).

On Friday, Starbucks closed down 66 cents, or 4.6%, at $13.80 on Friday. NYSE added 13 cents to $23.30.

Cramer said that exceptions to this rule included First Solar(FSLR Quote), which he said actually did improve its business. He also had good things to say about his four horsemen of tech: Apple(AAPL Quote), Research In Motion(RIMM Quote), Amazon(AMZN Quote) and Google(GOOG Quote). He said the companies both improved sales and lowered costs.

First Solar closed down $6.25, or 3.3%, to $181.04. Apple gained $1.22, or 1%, to $127.05; Amazon lost $1.56, or 1.9%, to $78.96; Research In Motion added $2.80, or 4%, to $72.30; and Google was down $1.73 at $394.24.

Cramer said a bottom in housing is on the way. Watsco(WSO Quote) might be expensive now, but Cramer said that that's because people don't expect it to be able to improve its earnings. He liked the company's dividend, which he said provides investors income while they wait for the turn in housing.

Watsco lost 45 cents, or 1.1%, to close at $42.50 on Friday.

Cramer also recommended Skyworks(SWKS Quote), whose president and CEO, David Aldrich, Cramer had on the show. Cramer said it was a great company.

On Friday, Skyworks added 39 cents, or 4.4%, to close at $9.23.