NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Before the market open this morning, Wal-Mart (WMT) - Get Report , Home Depot (HD) and TJX Companies (TJX) all reported earnings ahead of estimates, though expectations for Wal-Mart were notably lower than for the other two retailers, TheStreet's Jim Cramer said on CNBC's Squawk on the Street this morning. 

"It's nice to see [Wal-Mart] try to climb its way out of the hole," Cramer said. "But remember, the hole included a very low bar, compared to TJX and Home Depot where there was a very high bar and they just jumped right over it."

Wal-Mart did report mid-single digit growth within its apparel, health and wellness, and home sectors, Cramer noted. However, the retail giant's stock plunged last month following a lowered outlook for fiscal 2016 and 2017.

"When you cut numbers, cut numbers and cut numbers, [beating expectations] is not something you want to get excited about," Cramer added.

He was more impressed by Home Depot and TJX Cos. this morning, noting that their financial results were "quite a difference" from last week's disappointing earnings from more traditional retailers such as Macy's (M) and Nordstrom (JWN).

Apparel is "really in trouble" right now, but Home Depot is an investment in the home and TJX Cos. exists outside of a traditional mall, Cramer noted.

Both companies are experiencing "great traffic."

Cramer was shopping in a TJX Cos.'s Home Goods store last weekend. "Just the lines, the excitement - it's alive!" 

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates WAL-MART STORES INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate WAL-MART STORES INC (WMT) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, deteriorating net income and weak operating cash flow.

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

  • WMT's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 3.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 0.1%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
  • The debt-to-equity ratio is somewhat low, currently at 0.62, and is less than that of the industry average, implying that there has been a relatively successful effort in the management of debt levels. Even though the company has a strong debt-to-equity ratio, the quick ratio of 0.17 is very weak and demonstrates a lack of ability to pay short-term obligations.
  • Looking at the price performance of WMT's shares over the past 12 months, there is not much good news to report: the stock is down 28.10%, and it has underformed the S&P 500 Index. In addition, the company's earnings per share are lower today than the year-earlier quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now.
  • The change in net income from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500, but is less than that of the Food & Staples Retailing industry average. The net income has decreased by 15.1% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, dropping from $4,093.00 million to $3,475.00 million.
  • You can view the full analysis from the report here: WMT

Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.