Jim Cramer used his Tuesday, July 20, CNBC Squawk on the Street appearance to lay out one of his most emphatic sector rotation calls of the year: move away from semiconductors, software, and AI-linked mega-caps, and toward banks, trucking, and steadier cash-flow industrials. The 10-year Treasury sits at 4.55%, the VIX at 18.77 has jumped 24.9% in a week, and Cramer says chip volatility is at a 30-year high versus the market.
Cramer framed the daily experience of owning tech vividly: “Every day when you come in, when you’re with tech… you’re basically tied up in front of a freight train on the tracks, and someone cuts it just before you die. And I don’t want that. I would rather be in JP Morgan.“ He added, “With the exception of Apple, I fully expect at the end of the day to be down. Maybe today’s the day where I make some money in Micron. But right now… can I please be in a trucking company that’s about to report?”
Cramer Rotates Into Banks as JPMorgan’s Earnings Soar
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM | JPM Price Prediction) posted Q2 2026 EPS of $7.70 versus a $5.80 estimate, revenue of $57.35 billion, and ROTCE of 23%. Equity Markets revenue jumped 86% year over year to $6.03 billion, and the board authorized a fresh $50 billion buyback. Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) reported similarly strong results on July 14.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the U.S. economy has “demonstrated notable resiliency this year, with stronger business investment and hiring,” aided by AI-driven capital investment and fiscal stimulus. Shares trade at a trailing P/E of 15 with an analyst price target of $367.45, indicating analysts see a sliver of upside from the stock’s $345.23 share price at the market’s close on Tuesday.
J.B. Hunt’s Intermodal Profit Climbs 58%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) delivered Q2 EPS of $1.91 versus $1.73 expected on revenue of $3.50 billion, up 19.4%. Intermodal revenue rose 22% to $1.75 billion with operating income up 58%. These are terrific results, and similar strength might be coming for the rest of the sector.
The stock is up 50.11% year to date and 97.05% over the past year, making it a low-drama compounding profile that might be worth a look today.
Corning’s 100-Point Reversal Shows Why Cramer Is Leaving Volatility Behind
Corning (NYSE:GLW) crystallized Cramer’s frustration. “I owned Corning for the trust. It went up 100 [basis] points over a period of a month. I was a genius then. It lost 100 points in two days. I’m an idiot,” he said. Shares are down 21.45% over the past month, yet still up 186.6% over the past year.
Optical Communications revenue rose 36% year over year to $1.85 billion on AI data center demand, and CEO Wendell Weeks said Corning “finalized two more hyperscaler deals similar in size and duration to our recently announced multiyear, up-to-$6 billion agreement with Meta.”
What to Watch Next
Cramer believes extreme volatility has made technology stocks tough to own right now. Today, he prefers banks and trucking companies such as JPMorgan and J.B. Hunt, which offer strong earnings growth and steadier cash flow. The broader-market rotation could continue if AI spending slows and investors keep moving away from speculative technology stocks.
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