With retail companies reporting consumer weakness, Cramer says stick with tech

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday discussed Wall Street’s attitude toward consumer-focused companies, saying that consumer weakness has sent the stock of many companies shooting down.

“When the consumer’s tapped out, or at least more frugal than she used to be, money managers don’t wait around: They flee like rats from a sinking ship and park their money in a more reliable industry,” Cramer said. “Right now, that’s enterprise hardware and software, which are suddenly on fire again.”

Cramer mentioned several companies he thinks are down because of consumer weakness, including Macy’s and Target. Cramer also named Capri, Tapestry, Nike and Foot Locker, saying consumers aren’t paying for expensive apparel. The apparel companies reporting well, Cramer said, are ones that sell marked-down merchandise like Ross or TJX.

“With all of that, most money managers are saying, ‘You know what, forget it, the consumer’s just too fickle, we got to start staying away from their stocks, and we got to go back to what we’ve always wanted, we got to go back to tech: specifically enterprise software and hardware,”‘ Cramer said.

Cramer recommended Apple, Amazon and Nvidia, which reported a solid quarter on Wednesday, comfortably topping consensus estimates.

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Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust holds shares of Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Foot Locker and TJX.