Jim Cramer Sold 1 AI Chipmaker Over $80 Billion in Debt. But He Defended NVIDIA
Jim Cramer dumped one AI chipmaker over an $80 billion debt raise, then turned around and shrugged off the identical financing practice at NVIDIA. Whether that double standard holds up depends entirely on what NVIDIA reports after the bell tonight.
The split screen from Aug. 25 is the setup investors need to understand heading into tonight’s earnings report. In the morning, a CNBC clip logged Jim Cramer selling Broadcom and defending NVIDIA. That evening on Mad Money, he called NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) “the loom, the steam engine and the computer all balled up into one” and waved off the same vendor financing practice he had flagged at the other chipmaker as harmless.
The chipmaker he exited was Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), a charitable trust holding. Cramer had noted the night prior that Broadcom was looking to raise a significant amount of debt to support a planned chip financing deal, and traders were already weighing AI leverage risks tied to a debt raise of up to $80 billion. Yet when the same circular financing critique was aimed at NVIDIA, Cramer brushed it aside: “The critics say these are circular deals where Nvidia gives someone money and then they spend that money on NVIDIA product. I call them lazy Susan deals.”
Why the Balance Sheet Defense Actually Works
Same practice, two verdicts. The difference is leverage. NVIDIA is running a fortress: debt-to-equity of 0.07, net debt-to-EBITDA of 0.006, and interest coverage of 503x. Free cash flow reached $49 billion in the April quarter, funding a $20 billion return to shareholders and an $80 billion share repurchase authorization layered on top of $39 billion remaining on the current plan. Nvidia is writing checks from cash flow. Broadcom, per Cramer’s own read, needs the bond market to write them.
Setup Into Tonight’s Earnings Report
NVIDIA closed at $213.05 on Aug. 25, up about 19.20% year to date as of Friday morning, Aug. 28, still under the $235 all-time high set in May that Cramer himself flagged as the test. He said the stock would need to “withstand the close scrutiny, the withering interstitial fire, sharpen bayonets in order to mount an advance that takes the stock to 235.” The company reports after the close today, August 26.
The bar is high. Last quarter NVIDIA posted revenue of $82 billion, up 85% year-over-year, with data center at $75 billion, up 92%. Guidance called for $91 billion plus or minus 2% this quarter and non-GAAP gross margin of 75%. Jensen Huang framed the moment plainly: “Demand has gone parabolic” and “NVIDIA is the platform of this era.”
Bottom Line for the Setup
Cramer’s double standard is defensible only if Nvidia’s cash generation covers its ecosystem investments without borrowing. Tonight’s numbers on free cash flow, supply commitments, and Rubin visibility will decide whether the lazy Susan holds, or whether the same leverage worry that pushed him out of Broadcom starts biting the biggest stock in the world.
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Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.
He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.
