5 Stocks That Are Grabbing the Friday the 13th Spotlight

Crude futures are a bit lower today after Russia predicted that the current supply glut will last until the first half of 2017. The global economy might not be as strong as once thought either, with Euro Zone GDP recently revised lower. Despite it all, the S&P 500 futures index is only modestly in the red in morning trading. Among the stocks buzzing this morning are NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT), and Shake Shack Inc (NYSE:SHAK). In this article, we’ll find out why each stock is in the spotlight and see how the smart money tracked by Insider Monkey is positioned in them.

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NVIDIA Surges on Earnings Report

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is 12.64% in the green in morning trading after the company reported first quarter earnings of $0.46 per share on sales of $1.3 billion, beating estimates by $0.14 per share and $40 million respectively. Revenue increased by 13% year-over-year, driven by Nvidia’s gaming division, which saw segment sales rise by 17%. Guidance was also strong, with management predicting second quarter revenue of $1.32 billion-to-$1.38 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. The company also expects second quarter non-GAAP gross margin of 58%, adjusted capex of $30 million-to-$40 million, and adjusted opex of $445 million. Sander Gerber‘s Hudson Bay Capital opened a large position in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) during the first quarter consisting of 79.91 million shares, making the company’s largest long position as of March 31.

Symantec Misses Expectations 

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) earned $0.22 per share on sales of $873 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016, missing estimates by $0.01 per share and $5.66 million respectively. The company also cut its quarterly dividend to $0.075 per share from the previous $0.15 per share. Although the results weren’t good, Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC)’s financials were largely in-line with its previous guidance warning, which explains why shares are up by 0.89% today. To the company’s credit, Symantec is making progress on its $400 million efficiency program and on making its business model more subscription-based. If that occurs, Symantec’s results should improve. As for fiscal year 2017 guidance, the company anticipates GAAP revenue of $3.49 billion-to-$3.58 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.06-to-$1.10. 29 elite funds out of the 786 top funds that Insider Monkey tracks held 5.2% of Symantec’s shares at the end of December.

On the next page, we examine the news fueling the heightened activity in the shares of Alibaba Group Holding, Westport Innovations, and Shake Shack.