eBay Defying Bears With Torrid Run
After being left for dead by investors after its spin-off of Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) earlier this year, eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) is defying the bears with a monstrous July, having gained 16% last week and over 30% for the month and reaching its 52-week high of $30.52 on Friday. The latest surge for the auctioneer’s stock came on July 21, when it earned a double beat with its second quarter results.
Picking up the PayPal slack has been eBay’s StubHub ticket marketplace, whose gross merchandise volume soared by 35% year-over-year to $1.1 billion during the quarter. eBay’s classifieds segment also enjoyed a strong quarter, with revenue jumping by 15% year-over-year. eBay also announced a $2.5 billion stock buyback program with no expiration date and raised its full year guidance as part of its boisterous and well-received quarterly report.
There were some eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) bears among the hedge funds in our database during the first quarter, as there was a net total of 15 fewer funds long the stock by the end of the quarter. 57 funds in our database owned $2.00 billion worth of eBay shares on March 31.
Sophiris Bio Continues to Soar on Momentum
Shares of Sophiris Bio Inc (NASDAQ:SPHS) soared by 65% last week, cruising to their 52-week high of $4.60 on Friday. Shares of the company have nearly quadrupled in value since June 10 after the company released positive results from a Phase 2a proof of concept study of PRX302 (topsalysin) in localized prostate cancer. The drug was well tolerated by study participants and was shown to be effective combating tumor cells in 50% of the 18 patients enrolled in the study, with two of the patients’ tumors being completely eliminated.
“These promising early results open up the possibility of treating early prostate cancer by the simple administration of an injection into the prostate – something that could be done in an office setting,” Dr. Mark Emberton, Investigator, Dean, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London and Honorary Consultant Urologist at University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said in a statement alongside the study results.
The Kris Jenner, Gordon Bussard, and Graham Mcphail-led Rock Springs Capital Management owned 628,563 shares of Sophiris Bio Inc (NASDAQ:SPHS) on March 31.
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Strong International Mirror Sales Reflected in Gentex’s Latest Results, 52-Week High
Lastly we come to Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX), which posted an earnings double beat of its own on Friday, pushing its shares to a 52-week high of $17.64. Revenue of $423.8 million for the quarter came in $6.81 million ahead of expectations, while EPS of $0.30 was a mere $0.01 ahead of expectations. Gross profit margin rose by one percentage point to 39.4% while income from operations rose by 19% year-over-year to $128.70 million. The automobile and aircraft parts manufacturer was buoyed by its international interior mirror sales, which surged by 21% year-over-year to 4,392 units during the quarter.
15 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) on March 31, owning 3.40% of the company’s stock in aggregate.
Disclosure: None
