My top 10 things to watch Monday, April 20 1. Stocks are headed for a lower open, and oil prices are higher this morning as tensions reignite in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. seized an Iranian commercial ship that tried to evade the Navy blockade. Iran’s brief reopening of the strait Friday capped off a strong week for the S & P 500 and Nasdaq . In my Sunday column, I wrote about things going right for stocks beyond Iran. One of those things is earnings , and we have a lot more of them this week. 2. Roofing and construction supplies distributor QXO has agreed to buy installation firm TopBuild for $17 billion. The deal carried a hefty premium, and TopBuild shares are surging nearly 20% on the news. With the deal, Brad Jacobs’ QXO will be No. 1 in waterproofing and insulation, No. 2 in roofing, and either No. 1 or No. 2 in lumber. Last year, Club name Home Depot beat out QXO to buy building products distributor GMS. 3. Morgan Stanley expects Apple to report quarterly earnings per share of $2.02 on revenue of $110.82 billion. Those numbers are above the Street consensus. Analysts cited some memory pressure. But that shortage is well known and so is Apple’s ability to mitigate it. Morgan Stanley’s estimates for the next quarter are better than feared. Analysts kept their $300 price target and buy rating on the Club stock. 4. AST SpaceMobile , a loved stock, sank 12% this morning after its satellite was placed in the wrong orbit in a mission by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. The AST satellite will be covered by insurance. The company said it plans a satellite launch every one to two months this year. This mishap casts doubt on that schedule. 5. Melius Research took Dell ‘s price target to $245 from $200, and reiterated a buy rating. Analysts said that AI adoption will bring more server and storage demand, which will expand Dell’s multiple further. The firm argued that the stock also “keeps knocking down each bear thesis.” 6. Bank of America lowered its price target on Club name Meta Platforms to $820 from $885, citing “broader market multiple compression.” That PT is still high, representing 19% upside to Friday’s close. Analysts expect a quarterly beat and an unchanged current quarter spending guide. BofA said the new Muse Spark artificial intelligence model helped clear the expense-concern overhang on the stock. 7. Evercore ISI added Arista Networks to its “tactical outperform” list ahead of quarterly earnings on May 5. Analysts predicted a top and bottom line beat, pointing to more AI demand and sustained traction on the enterprise front. This has been the winner in networking for some time because of how good its CEO Jayshree Ullal is. Evercore ISI kept its buy rating and $200 price target. 8. IBM was added to the same Evercore list. It’s a gutsy call because the tech company reports in just two days. Analysts expect IBM to deliver an earnings beat and revise its 2026 constant currency revenue growth outlook. Jefferies took its price target down to $320 from $370, but kept a buy rating on shares. 9. Jefferies hiked its price target on UnitedHealth to $373 from $340 following a deep dive on the firm’s managed care coverage. Analysts kept shares at a buy. I think this is a strong stock going into the quarter. United Health will report results tomorrow morning. 10. Airlines are cancelling flights due to the soaring cost of jet fuel. Dutch airline KLM reportedly cancelled more than 150 European flights because it’s “no longer financially viable to operate,” according to The Independent. This, combined with raising rates, is bad for the whole food chain including our holding Boeing. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
