My top 10 things to watch Thursday, Sept. 25 1. Intel is reportedly seeking an investment from Apple as part of its comeback bid. I cast doubt on the likelihood of this happening. There is always chatter about these type of things, but this one is unlikely to lead to anything as of now. Club name Apple has in recent years moved away from using Intel chips in its computers in favor of in-house processors. 2. KB Home is buying back more stock and making and delivering fewer houses. While its quarterly sales and profit did top analysts’ expectations, it now sees lower full-year housing revenues than before. Average selling price is coming down. The Federal Reserve has to cut rates more to try stimulating the stalled housing market, which I like to say punches above its weight in the U.S. economy. 3. Initial jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 20 came in at 218,000, below the Dow Jones consensus of 235,000 and the prior week’s total of 231,000. Continuing claims also ticked a little lower. This is a positive for the labor market amid signs of softness. Still, the S & P 500, which is riding back-to-back losses, was on track to open in the red this morning. 4. Starbucks announced a restructuring plan that involves shuttering underperforming stores in North America, laying off 900 non-cafe employees and closing many corporate job openings. The moves will cost the company, which we own for the Club, about $1 billion. CEO Brian Niccol is staying aggressive in this turnaround. He’s spending a lot of money improving the in-store experience, but trying to control corporate expenses. 5. Chewy was upgraded to buy from hold at MoffettNathanson, with analysts liking the online pet food seller’s membership program called Chewy+ and believing the quarter-to-quarter volatility in customer additions should improve. Remember, this is a subscription business, and I love subscription businesses. 6. JPMorgan removed Freeport-McMoRan from its “focus list” after the copper and gold miner lowered its sales estimates for the metals due to a mud incident at its key Grasburg site in Indonesia. The stock was stabilizing today after dropping 17% yesterday on the update. Bernstein did upgrade shares, saying the sell-off was overdone. Still, I’m not sure where this one bottoms. 7. Odd call: Bank of America lifted its price target on chipmaker Marvell to $90 a share from $78, while keeping its hold rating. Analysts cited improved visibility into its 2026 data center performance, CEO Matt Murphy’s confidence at a recent investor event, and stepped-up buyback activity. Marvell had a brutal start to the year, in part due to worries about its custom chip business, but shares have been creeping up lately. 8. Citi warned that PepsiCo’s third-quarter results could be soft and put the stock on its 30-day negative catalyst watchlist. However, analysts left their buy rating intact. Shares jumped in early September when news of activist Elliott’s $4 billion stake surfaced, but that was a short-lived bounce. Dividend yield is now 4%. 9. Lululemon was downgraded to hold from buy at Needham, where analysts said the competitive environment is too challenging right now and consensus estimates still have room to fall. I didn’t know there was anyone left to downgrade this one. 10. Uranium Energy Corp. was downgraded to hold from buy at BMO Capital Markets. The stock has more than doubled since the start of July and is now fully priced versus peers, analysts said. Totally agree with this call. Enthusiasm for UEC is tied to the broader nuclear trade. But right now it’s speculative and a money-loser. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at 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.
