Jim Cramer believes forced selling is creating opportunities, but investors should resist buying too early. During his July 17, 2026, Mad Money Lightning Round, he recommended two defensive dividend stocks while urging patience on semiconductors and highly speculative names. His message was simple: “The speculative hands are being margined out. They’re going to get rid of them, and you’ll get a better price if you want to buy.“
Wait to Buy Semiconductors Until the Margin Sellers Are Gone
On a caller’s semiconductor question, Cramer advised being patient: “It’s a semiconductor and all semiconductor stocks are going down. May I suggest that you wait a few more days until we get rid of all the margin players, and you’re going to find a bottom. I don’t see it yet.”
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) fundamentals remain intact. Q1 FY2027 delivered $81.61B in revenue, up 85.2% YoY, with Data Center revenue of $75.25B. But Polymarket assigns only a 60.5% probability that NVDA closes above $200 by end of July and just 37% above $210. Reddit sentiment fell into bearish territory (scores 32 to 46) July 7 through 9 on DeepSeek chip news and server delay reports.
Cramer Warns Nebius Is “Not Done Going Down”
Cramer’s sharpest warning targeted Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS): “It is at the nexus of the craziness right now. There are a lot of hedge funds that own it, and I think they’re in a lot of trouble. This stock is not done going down. There’ll be another time to buy it, but that time is not now.”
Shares fell 35.21% over the past month and 20.55% in the past week, closing at $171.77 on July 16. Fundamentals are strong (Q2 revenue of $399M, up 279.6% YoY, an NVIDIA $2B pre-funded warrant investment, and a $12B Meta contract), but shares trade at 57.7x sales and 68x forward earnings.
Cramer Says Clorox’s 5% Yield Is Finally Worth Buying
Cramer’s headline call was on Clorox (NYSE:CLX). “I read my first positive note about Clorox in a great deal of time today. That was a price target increase that made me say 5% yield. You know what? We want to buy it.“
Clorox pays $1.24 quarterly, or $4.96 annualized, translating to a 5.12% yield. Shares closed at $98.71 on July 16, down 18.67% over the past year. The stock trades at 15x forward earnings with a 0.53 beta, making it a classic defensive setup Cramer wants against margin-driven volatility.
Fiscal Q3 delivered mixed signals. Adjusted EPS came in at $1.64, beating the $1.55 estimate, though management sharply lowered FY2026 guidance to $5.45-$5.65 in adjusted EPS, citing ERP transition, inventory normalization, and GOJO integration dilution as drivers of organic sales declines. CEO Linda Rendle called results “mixed, with continued momentum in some parts of our portfolio and slower-than-anticipated market share recovery in others.”
Why Cramer Prefers Coca-Cola Over Its Largest Bottler
Asked about the bottlers, Cramer chose the parent: “I would go for Coke. I think that’s a better stock.” Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) is up 23.1% year to date, delivered Q1 EPS of $0.86 on 12.1% revenue growth, and pays $0.53 quarterly. Coca-Cola Consolidated posted a 70 bps gross margin contraction due to aluminum tariff costs and yields materially less on its $0.25 quarterly payout.
Quanta’s $48.5 Billion Backlog Makes This Selloff Worth Watching
Quality cyclicals aren’t immune. Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR) has come down from $788 to $630, retracing 12.26% in a month even after posting a record $48.5B backlog. Cramer’s advising for investors to let leveraged sellers finish selling, then step into names where cash flow, dividends, and backlog do the heavy lifting.
Key Takeaways
Cramer sees Clorox and Coca-Cola as dependable defensive holdings, while semiconductors may become attractive once forced selling subsides. More speculative names such as Nebius could have further to fall. The opportunity, in Cramer’s view, will come after leveraged sellers have been cleared out and strong businesses can be purchased at more attractive prices.
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