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.

Alibaba Expands Its Cloud

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) and SoftBank recently announced that they have formed a joint venture named SB Cloud Corp to launch cloud computing services in Japan. The joint venture will combine Alibaba’s cloud expertise with SoftBank’s customer contacts. SoftBank will hold 60% of the venture, while Alibaba will own 40%. Cloud computing is a rapidly growing area and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) wants as much market share in the sector as possible. Shares of the Chinese e-commerce giant are 1.55% in the red today. Our data shows that hedge funds were fairly bullish on Alibaba in the fourth quarter. 77 funds owned $6.74 billion worth of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) on December 31, a big step up from the 60 funds with $3.79 billion in holdings on September 30.

Westport Experiences Macro Headwinds

Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT) turned in a disappointing first quarter, amounting to a loss of $0.36 per share on sales of $24 million, missing analysts’ estimates by $0.08 per share and $4.1 million, respectively. Revenue fell by 14.3% year-over-year as macro headwinds negatively affected the company’s business in multiple end-markets. The company will release its full-year guidance once it completes its merger with Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS), which is expected to occur in early June. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies was one of seven elite funds in our database that held shares of Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT) at the end of December. Those shares are up by 0.10% this morning.

Shake Shack Surges on Good Results

Shake Shack Inc (NYSE:SHAK) beat both top and bottom-line expectations with its first quarter financial results, pulling in earnings of $0.08 per share on sales of $54.17 million, while estimates stood at $0.05 per share and $52.06 million respectively. Sales rose by 43.3% year-over-year as same-store sales jumped by 10%. The company expects revenue of $245 million-to-$249 million for 2016, which would slightly top the consensus estimate of $243 million. The company also expects to add 23 more restaurants during the year. 11 elite funds in our system owned 10.1% of Shake Shack Inc (NYSE:SHAK)’s shares as of December 31. Shares are up by 7.33% this morning.

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