Gaming Stocks Dominate List of 10 Nasdaq Stocks That Hit Their 52-Week Highs Tuesday

The markets have opened the week in a bullish way, with two strong trading sessions under its belt. The Dow Jones hit its record high by midday yesterday, while the Nasdaq has gained 1.3% so far this week and just under 3% in the last three trading sessions. The strong market allowed many stocks to touch their 52-week highs in yesterday’s session, including ten noteworthy Nasdaq stocks, which includes the three most popular gaming stocks among the hedge funds that we track. Stocks that make new highs often maintain their momentum as they break through resistance levels, making the metric an important one to watch.

Among the major Nasdaq stocks that set new 52-week highs yesterday were Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), Five Below Inc (NASDAQ:FIVE), Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU), NetEase Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:NTES), Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY), and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO). Let’s dig deeper into what has led these stocks to reach new heights and see what top hedge funds think about them.

At Insider Monkey, we follow the activity of several hundred of the best-performing hedge funds as part of our strategy. We analyze their 13F filings and use the data to see what stocks they are collectively bullish on. Through extensive research, we have determined that the best approach to outperform the broader indices is to follow hedge funds into their top small-cap ideas (see more details here).

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Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) gained 1.09% on Tuesday, hitting a new 52-week high of $42.6 early in the session. Activision released the much-awaited DLC add-on Descent for Call of Duty Black Ops III yesterday, for PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One. It’s the third of four DLC packs set to be released for the best-selling game. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating on Activision Blizzard in a report issued to investors on Tuesday.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) rose by 1.03% on Tuesday, touching its 52-week high of $25.46 early in the session. It’s currently pushed to $25.49 in pre-market trading. In a press release on Tuesday, Texas-based electronics company Novati announced that it has teamed up with Applied Materials to install a suite of advanced 200mm process equipment into its facility.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Prime Day sales on Tuesday gave a boost to the stock, which soared to its 52-week high. Analysts were anticipating the success of the e-commerce giant’s Prime Day initiative, with sales expected to double from the $375 million-to-$400 million that it pulled in through Prime Day last year. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its ‘Overweight’ rating for the company and has an $800 price target on it.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) continues to build on its Monday gains, hitting a 52-week high of $29.74 on Tuesday. Cisco’s increasing focus on Cloud platforms, including its cloud-based service called the Intercloud and its “Internet of Everything” campaign,  have investors excited about the company’s growth potential for the long-term. Cisco was held by 65 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey as of March 31, with their positions valued at over $4.3 billion.

We’ll discuss the strong performance from six other important stocks yesterday on the next page.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)’s stock touched $79.99 on Tuesday (which sounds like it could be the price for one of its games), its 52-week peak. Not everyone is convinced the stock has much room left to run though, as EA was downgraded by Vetr to ‘hold’ from ‘Buy’, in a report released on Monday. On the other hand, Jefferies Group reaffirmed its ‘Buy’ rating on the video game company in a report issued to investors on the same day.

Five Below Inc (NASDAQ:FIVE) hit its 52-week high of $48.88 on Tuesday. The teen-focused retailer’s stock has gained 40% so far in 2016. Columbus Circle Investors was the top shareholder of Five Below on March 31 among the funds in our database, owning over 882,000 shares.

Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)’s stock gained 0.17% yesterday, reaching its 52-week peak price of $77.25. After fading in the second half of 2015, shares have rebounded in a big way in 2016, gaining 46%, pushing them within sight of their all-time high of $81.43 which they hit in mid-2013.

NetEase Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:NTES)’s stock crossed the $202 mark yesterday, reaching its 52-week high before sliding back to $197.33 to end the day. Last month, analysts at Deutsche Bank issued a ‘buy’ rating on the Beijing, China-based internet technology company, which has bucked the trend among most Chinese stocks to gain 9% this year.

Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY) is on investors’ radar following its solid performance over the past few months. On Tuesday, the Redwood, California-based image publishing service’s shares crossed the $49 level, setting a new 52-week high. The stock has gained nearly 7% this month.

Lastly is Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO), the third major video game stock to reach its 52-week high on Tuesday. The New York-based publisher of the Grand Theft Auto series is set to announce its latest quarterly results on August 4. Meanwhile, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed its ‘Buy’ rating on Take-Two Interactive Software in a report published on Tuesday. Shares have gained 9% this month and over 18% this year.

Disclosure: None