When Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) reported earnings that beat expectations but still managed to crater 8%, Jim Cramer decided someone needed to stand up for the e-commerce giant. That someone, naturally, was Jim Cramer.
Speaking before Friday's market open, the CNBC "Mad Money" host took to X with a characteristically bold declaration: "I will defend Amazon today. But it did trade to 197 yesterday as people recognize, like we did, that the Mag 7 is no more. But it is Google that is the prize."
There's a lot to unpack there. First, the broader market actually looked pretty solid on Friday. The S&P 500 climbed 0.96% to 6,863.56, while the Nasdaq-100 gained 0.88% to 24,764.51. But Amazon was having its own private crisis.
Why Amazon Got Hammered
Here's the thing: Amazon actually delivered strong results. Fourth-quarter net sales hit $213.39 billion, comfortably beating Wall Street's $211.30 billion estimate. So what went wrong?
CEO Andy Jassy announced that the company expects to spend roughly $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026. That's a staggering number, and investors didn't love it. The market's reaction was swift and brutal, sending shares plummeting.
Cramer saw this coming. On Thursday, he posted on X: "I am not going to say Amazon's overdone on the downside because i figure tomorrow's pretty ugly. I am saying that there's a reason for the spend that can be justified."
In other words, yes, the stock is going to hurt tomorrow, but maybe there's method to this madness. That's the defense he mounted on Friday, even as Amazon shares fell 8.34% to $204.12.
The Magnificent 7 Isn't So Magnificent Anymore
Cramer's bigger point is about the fracturing of the Magnificent 7, that elite group of mega-cap tech stocks that dominated market returns for years. The group includes NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), Meta Platforms Inc (META), Amazon, Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), and Tesla Inc (TSLA).
These stocks used to move together, rising in lockstep as investors poured money into Big Tech. But Cramer's acknowledging what's becoming increasingly obvious: that cohesion is gone. Now investors are picking winners and losers within the group.
Google Takes The Crown
And in Cramer's view, the clear winner is Alphabet. He called Google "the prize" among technology stocks, and the timing is interesting. Google recently announced its own massive spending increase, raising its 2026 capital spending forecast to $175 billion to $185 billion.
Wait, didn't Amazon just get destroyed for announcing big spending plans? Yes, but context matters. Google's spending announcement sparked a rally in semiconductor stocks because it signaled robust demand for AI infrastructure. The market apparently liked Google's story better.
Of course, Alphabet shares were also down 3.09% to $321.00 at the time of publication on Friday, so maybe "the prize" is relative. But compared to Amazon's 8% drop, it's holding up considerably better.
The takeaway here is that Big Tech is entering a new phase. The days when all seven Magnificent stocks moved together are over. Now it's about which companies can justify their massive spending plans and convince investors they're building something worth the investment. According to Cramer, Google is winning that battle.
