• CNBC's Jim Cramer on Thursday examined consumer behavior before and after the pandemic, grappling with this tricky topic in the wake of two huge companies' after market close earnings reports, Apple and Amazon.
• "I get it, there's endless pontification about what the consumer is up to, because we're in a consumer-led, service-oriented economy," Cramer said. "But sometimes you have to recognize that we just don't have a bead on the consumer, and we can't force some interpretation on a confusing set of facts, because that's how you end up losing money."

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Thursday examined consumer behavior before and after the pandemic, stressing the topic can be tricky to rationalize, but important to understanding and predicting market trends.

"I get it, there's endless pontification about what the consumer is up to, because we're in a consumer led, service-oriented economy," Cramer said. "But sometimes you have to recognize that we just don't have a bead on the consumer, and we can't force some interpretation on a confusing set of facts, because that's how you end up losing money."

He examined consumer behavior during and after the pandemic, noting that the former saw consumers cleaning everything with Clorox, getting vaccinated with Pfizer needles at CVS and Walgreens and spending time on Zoom. But when the last waves of Covid receded, many of these companies found their stocks falling fast, Cramer said, adding that some have yet to recover.

But when it comes to consumer behavior, Cramer cares more about market leaders Apple and Amazon which reported results after the close Thursday. Amazon reported second-quarter earnings of 65 cents per share, beating analyst estimates of 35 cents per share, posting its biggest earnings beat since its report for the fourth quarter of 2020. The company saw $134.4 billion in revenue compared with $131.5 billion expected, according to Refinitiv.

Apple, too, beat Wall Street's predictions for earnings and sales, with quarterly revenue of $81.8 billion, topping estimates of $81.69 billion. But sales were down 1% year over year. Apple reported earnings of $1.26 per share, beating analyst estimates of $1.19, according to Refinitiv.

"How the heck can you doubt the strength of the consumer if Apple can put up such incredible numbers during a so-called off-cycle year and Amazon can shoot the lights out?" Cramer asked. "Own Apple, don't trade it. And for heaven's sake, buy Amazon, because their consumers are doing just fine — and their consumers are practically everyone."

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