During this week’s “Off the Charts” segment on “Mad Money,” Jim Cramer used Bob Lang’s charts to discuss three semiconductor stocks that are worth buying into after the stock market dropped for the second day in a row.
3 semiconductor stocks worth buying
Cramer said action in the stocks of Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm are showing bullish signs. “In a market that’s suddenly rolling over after an epic rebound from the lows, we need to circle the wagons around high-quality stocks that we can confidently buy into this newfound weakness, because they’ll be able to make a comeback even if the economy doesn’t,” the “Mad Money” host said.
Cramer took technical pointers from chart analyst and author Bob Lang. AMD and Nvidia produce gaming and data center chips, two sectors benefiting greatly from the stay-home orders that swept the nation during the coronavirus pandemic. Qualcomm produces chips that are key for the 5G wireless buildout.
“Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm all fit the bill, and the charts, as interpreted by Bob Lang, suggest that all three could have a lot more room to run,” Cramer said. During the coronavirus sell-off in the first quarter, all three semiconductor stocks fell about 40% from their February peaks to March troughs, which Cramer suggested was ill-advised. Nvidia has since labored back to register a new high on Tuesday. AMD and Qualcomm have since recovered much of their losses.
Lang sees bullish signs in the daily chart of Nvidia. The chartist points out that the Ichimoku Cloud — a momentum gauge ؙ— is trending higher, the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) — another momentum indicator — put in a bullish crossover and the average directional index — an indicator of strength — also showed a bullish crossover, Cramer noted.
If Nvidia can break through its ceiling of resistance of about $322, the stock price can have more upside, he said.
“Put it all together and Lang thinks that Nvidia’s got the prettiest chart out there. … I think Lang’s dead right,” he said. “Taking everything into consideration, Lang believes Nvidia could make a run at $400 by year end, even more bullish than I am.”
That would represent a return of 28.5% for the rest of 2020 from Wednesday’s close.
Lang traced an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern in the chart of AMD. The pattern is “among the most reliably bullish formations in the book,” Cramer said.
The MACD is in the midst of a bullish crossover. Since bottoming under $37 per share in March, the stock has placed in higher highs and lower lows, another positive signal, Cramer added.
“If the stock can break out above its old highs in the high 50s, he’s betting it has a clear shot to the mid-60s,” Cramer said.
Lang sees a “textbook picture” breakout waiting to happen in the stock of Qualcomm, Cramer said. The stock has a ceiling of resistance at about $82, a price the stock has not seen since early March. The stock could be poised to rally if it breaks out of an ascending triangle pattern, Cramer said.
“The relative strength index, another important momentum indicator, looks tremendous with a very steep upward slope, but it’s still nowhere near being overbought,” he said. “If the stock can break out above $82, Lang believes it can make a run for its old highs in the mid 90s.”
