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The low expectations surrounding the new Goldman Sachs-linked credit card that Apple plans to roll out is good news for both stocks, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday.
Apple’s new TV platform, which will be a key component of the tech giant’s fledgling services businesses, has made the most noise, but the credit card will be the winner even though it didn’t impress the technology and financial technology analysts, he said.
No expectations are the best kind of expectations, Cramer added.
“Now we just need to wait for the analysts to plug this card into their models, although admittedly that could take a while,” the “Mad Money” host said. “But I bet, even though Goldman’s a bank stock, I don’t think its gonna go lower much lower, it can go higher. And Apple: I say own it, don’t trade it.”
Cramer is a former Goldman Sachs stockbroker.
Goldman Sachs wants to diversify from its legacy business and offer more lending through credit cards and to small businesses, Cramer said. He said the bank wants to mirror American Express, “but with higher fees that are a fact of life for these high-end charge cards.”
This deal is “found money” for Apple, who has a wide reach, because the investment bank will take on all the risk, he added. Additionally, it offers instant cash back.
“Is it enough for you to switch to Apple’s card if you’re on another ecosystem? Why not? I just did,” Cramer said. “If they give you better perks, I bet you they can take share from AmEx. I’m an AmEx holder, too.”
The program will bring value to Goldman Sachs, which is currently the cheapest stock in terms of price-to-earnings of the major banks, a result of its “episodic” revenue stream, Cramer said. If Goldman Sachs can use algorithms to make lending decisions and produce, hypothetically, 10 million credit cards through Apple’s ecosystem, it could cushion both the bank’s episodic nature as well as Apple’s periodic cell phone launches, he explained.
Paypal’s CEO Dan Schulman has said the payment space is a $100 trillion total addressable market.
“Apple just got in the race with no financial risk. That’s all borne by Goldman,” Cramer said. “As for Goldman, they’re not cannibalizing anything because they don’t already have another card.”
Apple is selling at less than 15-times earnings, while Goldman is selling at 7-times earnings, he pointed out.
“I think they’re both undervalued here, in part because the financial analysts who follow Goldman and the tech analysts who follow Apple simply don’t understand these news stories,” he said.
Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Apple and Goldman Sachs.
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