Amazon, Alphabet & Other Companies Are in Spotlight as Investors Digest Latest Financial Reports

Given that it’s officially the heart of tech season, it’s not surprising that many tech heavyweights are trending on Friday following the release of their financial reports.

Amid the stocks that are in the spotlight today are Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Tyco International plc (Ireland) Ordinary Share (NYSE:TYC), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI), and Yamana Gold Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AUY). Let’s take a closer look at their performance in the last quarter and see how these stocks are positioned for the long-run, based on the hedge fund sentiment towards them.

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Amazon Delivers Solid Quarter

E-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) beat both top and bottom line estimates for the last quarter again, with second-quarter EPS of $1.78 on sales of $30.4 billion. Analysts were expecting EPS of $1.11 and revenue of $29.54 billion. Sales advanced by 31.1% year-over-year, powered by Amazon Prime and Amazon Web Services, the latter of which saw sales jump by 58% year-over-year to $2.88 billion. For the third quarter, Amazon anticipates sales in the range of $31 billion to $33.5 billion and operating income between $50 million and $650 million, compared to $1.30 billion in the second quarter and $406 million registered in the third quarter of 2015. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global was one of the top holders of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of the first quarter, with a stake of over 3.4 million shares.

Tyco Beats Estimates

Tyco International plc (Ireland) Ordinary Share (NYSE:TYC) earned $0.54 on sales of $2.45 billion in its fiscal third quarter, beating the consensus estimates by $0.01 per share and $10 million, respectively. The strong dollar weighed on Tyco’s results as foreign exchange caused total sales to fall by 2% year-over-year despite organic revenue inching up by 1.5%. Cash from operating activities came in at $191 million while free cash flow was $119 million. In terms of guidance, management is confident that the company will realize $1 billion of savings related to previously announced merger synergies and productivity initiatives. Among the funds we track, 26 funds owned $610.45 million worth of Tyco International plc (Ireland) Ordinary Share (NYSE:TYC)’s stock, which accounted for 3.90% of the float on March 31, versus 27 funds and $804.69 million, respectively, a quarter earlier.

On the next page, we examine Alphabet, CIGNA Corporation, and Yamana Gold.

Alphabet Earnings Ahead of Estimates 

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s shares are in the green in pre-market trading after the tech behemoth reported earnings of $8.42 per share and revenue of $21.5 billion for the second quarter. The results beat analyst estimates by $0.38 per share and $740 million, respectively. Revenue rocketed by an impressive 21.3% year-over-year, as Google advertising revenue jumped by 19% year-over-year on the back of stronger click metrics. Operating margin was 35% for the quarter, up from 34% last year. Free cash flow amounted to $6.99 billion, substantially higher than last year’s $4.58 billion. Among the investors we track, 155 funds held class A shares of Alphabet and 142 funds held class C shares at the end of the March quarter.

CIGNA Misses Expectations

CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) is in the spotlight today after reporting a lackluster second quarter. For the time period, the insurer posted EPS of $1.98 on revenue of $9.89 billion, versus analyst estimates of $2.39 per share and $9.97 billion, respectively. The revenue increased by 5% on the year, driven by strong performance in the company’s Global Health Care and Global Supplemental Benfits divisions. Management sees full year 2016 adjusted EPS in the range of $7.75 to $8.10, down from the previous forecast of $8.95 to $9.35. The number of funds from our database with holdings in CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) fell by six quarter-over-quarter to 61 at the end of March.

Yamana Reports Results

Traders are watching Yamana Gold Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AUY) today after the company reported a second-quarter profit of $0.01 per share, versus analyst estimates of $0.02 per share. Revenue for the quarter was in-line with expectations, at $466.5 million. Total gold production was 313,086 ounces with the by-product cash cost and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $664 and $964 per ounce, respectively. Management belives it can achieve AISC of $880 to $920 per ounce for the full 2016. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies raised its position in Yamana Gold by 37% to 6.7 million shares in the first quarter.

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