Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Monday’s key moments. 1. Apple to slow down hiring — what this means for the market 2. JNJ earnings: business is still very strong 3. Halliburton reports better-than-expected earnings 4. Quick mentions: PXD, EL, CRM 1. Apple to slow down hiring — what this means for the market The markets opened on a bright note on Tuesday with the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq both up more than 1.5% in morning trading. It was a welcome reversal from Monday afternoon when all the major U.S. indices fell following reports that Apple (AAPL), one of the world’s most popular consumer brands, announced it will cool down hiring plans and reduce spending in some areas of the company. Apple is not alone. Global investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) and video services platform Vimeo (VMEO) also announced they will either be slowing hiring or laying off employees. Why is this happening? Companies across all sectors are trying to manage rising prices amid a potential economic slowdown, making this a likely emerging theme this earnings season. What’s top of mind for this earning season is whether company profits have held up with higher costs and waning consumer confidence. “Businesses are pivoting right now because they see what the Fed wants to do, and they’re not going to just sit there and lose money,” Jim Cramer said in the Investing Club’s ‘Morning Meeting’ on Tuesday . Overall, we prefer to take an optimistic view and think the market is in rather good shape. 2. JNJ earnings: Business is still very strong Investing Club holding Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported solid second-quarter revenue results of $24 billion, a 3% year-over-year increase and earnings per share of $2.59, 5 cents better than the Wall Street consensus. Here’s a quick breakdown: JNJ’s pharma business delivered $13.3 billion in sales, a 6% year-over-year increase. MedTech brought in $6.9 billion in sales, a 1% year-over-year decline. The consumer segment reported $3.8 billion in sales, a 1% year-over-year decline. While these are solid numbers, there were some challenges during the quarter. Inflation pressures and continued supply-chain disruptions impacted JNJ sales. Furthermore, the strong dollar weighed on international sales and compelled the company to cut forward year EPS guidance. On a more positive note, the midpoint of the company’s full-year-adjusted EPS outlook was maintained on an operational basis, which excludes the impact of currency. We think that if the dollar starts to weaken, the stock could see some new highs. Our takeaway from the quarter is JNJ’s business is still very strong. “In terms of experimentation and growth JNJ is the best in the field,” Cramer said. Notable mention: JNJ announced in November 2021 that it will separate its consumer health business from its pharmaceutical and MedTech business, creating two separate businesses, eventually…
Read More: 4 takeaways from the Investing Club’s ‘Morning Meeting’ on Tuesday