Amazon, LinkedIn, Gilead, & More: Here’s Why These Stocks Are Trending Today

At a time when crude futures have hit another monthly high and gold futures are strong, shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) are in the spotlight today. Valeant’s stock is trending after the company filed a belated annual report, while others have released their earnings for the last quarter. In this article, we analyze take a closer look at the events surrounding each equity and see how smart money investors have positioned themselves regarding the stock.

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Amazon Flies Due to AWS Strength

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s cloud division continues to be a bright spot for the company, as the company’s Amazon Web Services division made an operating profit of $604 million on sales of $2.57 billion for the first three months of the year, up by over 200% and 64% on the year, respectively. Because of AWS’ strength, Amazon beat its first quarter expectations handily, with EPS of $1.07 on sales of $29.13 billion, beating by $0.49 per share and $1.15 billion. Amazon expects next quarter operating income to be between $375 million and $975 million on sales of $28-$30.5 billion, versus the consensus of $465 million in income on sales of $28.33 billion. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s strong results are sure to make hedge funds happy today. According to our database of 786 elite funds, Amazon is the fifth most popular stock with 141 funds holding shares as of the end of 2015. Shares of Amazon are up 10% in the first hours of trading.

LinkedIn Rallies on Earnings

LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) shares are trading in the green after the business social media company reported earnings of $0.74 per share on revenue of $861 million, beating analyst estimates by $0.14 per share and $32.53 million, respectively. Sales grew 35% year-over-year, powered by growth at the company’s Marketing Solutions unit and Hiring unit, which saw revenue rise 29% and 27% year-over-year, respectively. Management is expecting second quarter EPS of $0.74 to $0.77 on revenue in the range of $885 million to $890 million. That’s better than analyst estimates of $0.71 per share and $886.1 million. LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) was included in the equity portfolios of 48 funds from our database at the end of the fourth quarter, up 10 over the quarter.

On the next page, we are going to take a look at the results presented by Gilead Sciences and Expedia, and will look into the annual report Valeant Pharmaceuticals filed following some restatements.

Gilead Misses Expectations

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) shares are 8% lower after the biotech/big pharma company missed earnings expectations for the first quarter. For the time period between January 1 and March 31, Gilead reported net income per share of $3.03 on sales of $7.8 billion, versus estimates of $3.14 per share and $8.11 billion. Although Gilead’s overall sales grew 2.8% year-over-year, the company’s mega-hit Harvoni saw its revenue decline 15.7% year-over-year to $3.017 billion. Gilead’s full-year guidance includes net product sales between $30 billion and $31 billion, and product gross margin of 88% to 90%. The hedge fund sentiment around Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) has been stable, with the number of funds tracked by Insider Monkey owning shares of the company falling by just one quarter-over-quarter to 89 at the end of 2015.

Expedia Beats On Top and Bottom Lines

Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) reported first-quarter earnings of $0.09 per share on revenue of $1.9 billion, beating estimates by $0.15 per share and $60 million, respectively. Sales advanced by an annual 38.7% as gross bookings increased 32% (when excluding the impact of acquisitions and eLong) and the number of room nights stayed grew by 37%. Year-to-date, the company has repurchased 2.9 million shares of its stock, for a total cost of $312 million. The number of funds from our database long Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) rose by 11 sequentially to 73 during the fourth quarter. Shares of Expedia have gained 8% so far today.

Valeant Files Its Annual Report

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) is officially in full compliance with its creditors now that the drug company filed its 2015 annual report with the SEC. Valeant delayed filing its annual report for 2015 due to its need to review its previous accounting. Earlier in the month, Valeant determined that its review was complete and on the April 29, Valeant filed its annual report. Although much of the key data in the annual report had been previously disclosed, Valeant said its fourth quarter 2015 GAAP net loss amounted to $1.12 per share, adjusted EPS stood at $1.55, and revenue was $2.8 billion. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square is a top shareholder of Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) and may be actively working behind the scene to turn the company around.

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