Here’s Why Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Alphabet, and Three Other Stocks Are in Spotlight on Friday

The markets are recovering today after yesterday’s Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) fear inspired a sell-off.

In this article, we will find out why four major tech stocks are trending, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) and why one biotech, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH), is also in the spotlight. In addition, we are going to see what the investors we track at Insider Monkey think about the companies in question.

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Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) shares are in the green after the company announced that its investigational drug, Voclosporin, achieved the primary and all pre-specified secondary endpoints in a Phase 2b Aura-LV study for Lupus Nephritis. The primary end point is complete remission at 24 weeks while the pre-specified endpoints include partial remission, reduction in UPCR over the 24 week treatment period, among other things. Hedge fund sentiment in Aurinia has been relatively stable. Of the 749 funds we track, five funds owned $9.64 million worth of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH)’s stock, which accounted for 9.10% of the float on June 30.

Given the increasing feeling in Silicon Valley that the home speaker in a vital component of the connected home, it’s not surprising that Variety reports Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)‘s Google unit is expected to introduce its own smart speaker, Google Home, at a press event next week. Due to the novelty of the category, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Echo currently dominates the sector, with analysts estimating the e-commerce giant selling over 3 million units this year and potentially 10 million units in 2017. Given the smart speaker’s language processing skills, analysts increasingly view it as a physical search bar, meaning that it will be important for Google to have a strong presence in the category to keep its lucrative search market share in the future. One potential way for Google to do so is undercutting with price – many analysts speculate Google Home will cost around $130 per unit, or $50 under Echo’s current price.  Natixis Global Asset Management‘s Harris Associates raised its stake in in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10% to over 2.18 million shares in the second quarter.

On the next page, we find out why traders are talking about salesforce.com, Microsoft Corporation, and LinkedIn Corp.

Although it may not have won the bidding for LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) is certainly trying to make life difficult for the winning bidder for the business social network, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). According to The Wall Street Journal, salesforce.com has stated it would ask regulators in Europe to block the acquisition on anti-competition grounds. Specifically, Salesforce feels that LinkedIn would provide Microsoft with an unfair advantage of being able to block rivals from accessing LinkedIn’s membership/user data if the giant from Seattle chose to. Microsoft Chief legal officer Brad Smith responded back, saying that, ‘the deal has already been cleared to close in the United States, Canada, and Brazil’. Given other regulatory approvals, it is unclear whether European regulators will think any differently. Of the three companies, the smart money liked Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) the most, with 131 funds from our database reporting long positions as of the end of June. Meanwhile, 60 funds held shares of salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) and 66 funds were long LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD).

Disclosure: none