Cramer breaks down the rallies behind Tesla, Beyond Meat and Lululemon

CNBC’s Jim Cramer has been hammering home the difference between meaningless and meaningful gains on the stock market and on Monday laid out a basket of companies that are rising for good reason.

“We don’t want to be in a situation where stocks keep roaring on the same old, same old information, so it’s a relief to see a bunch of winners rallying on genuine good news,” the “Mad Money” host said.

Take Tesla, for example.

The electric-vehicle maker sprinted more than 9% higher on the day to close at an all-time high of $524.86, but there is real reason for the rally, Cramer said.

It’s because of a report that said China is willing to extend electric-vehicle subsidies it may have phased out, Cramer explained.

“Elon Musk wants to produce 250,000 cars in China, and as long as the Communist Party keeps subsidizing them, I think Tesla could have some very, very big numbers,” Cramer said.

While Lululemon Athletica didn’t pop as significantly as Tesla, the clothing company rose more than 4% to $245.18 after it increased its quarterly sales and profit outlook.

Some investors had worried that Lululemon may have experienced the kind of weaker sales in its women’s business that plagued Kohl’s during the holiday season, Cramer said.

“I know Lulu’s still pretty expensive, but if the earnings estimates are too low, that means the stock can go higher,” he said.

Beyond Meat is another example of a company whose stock went higher for good reason, not just pure market momentum, Cramer said.

The maker of plant-based burger alternatives was up almost 20% to $114.34 per share, adding to its big run last week, following reports that McDonald’s was expanding its Canadian trial to 52 stores total.

That kind of move, Cramer said, makes sense because “McDonald’s is the largest fast food chain on Earth.”

“If they ever decide to roll out Beyond Burgers in all of their locations, then this stock will be headed much, much higher,” he said.

There are stocks rising on old information, however, which is something to be wary about, Cramer said.

He pointed to Salesforce, Adobe, Nvidia and Apple. All of the companies rose more than 1.5% on Monday, with Nvidia touching a 52-week intraday high of $252.99 before closing up 3.1%.

But their moves to the upside were largely based on information that had already been out there, such as Nvidia seeing a price target boost centered around optimism on artificial intelligence and ray tracing in video games.

That is “stuff I’ve talked about … endlessly,” Cramer said. “I love the stock, but holy cow, I wish it didn’t have so much momentum.”

Ahead of earnings season, which begins in earnest with big banks Tuesday, Cramer said he is fearful expectations may be too high around the market. The only exception, he said, is oil stocks.

“Still, at least some stocks are rallying on good news, not mere momentum,” he said. “I just wish there were more of them.”

Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Kohl’s, Apple, Salesforce.com and Nvidia.