Markets slipped on Wednesday as investors await employment report due Friday morning. Declining oil prices also dented the market sentiment. However, some of the stocks are gaining ground today. They include Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN), ArcelorMittal SA (ADR) (NYSE:MT), Achaogen Inc (NASDAQ:AKAO), Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) and Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP). Let’s analyze the important factors which helped these stocks in getting boosts today and see what hedge funds from our system think of each of them.
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Ciena Corporation Beats Estimates
Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock soared by more than 12% today after the company posted better-than-expected fiscal second quarter results. The Hanover, Maryland-based networking and communications company earned $0.34 a share, better than the analysts’ estimates of $0.27, while revenue came in at $640.7 million, beating the expected $630.74 million. For the current quarter, Ciena expects its revenue in the range of $655 million to $685 million. Out of nearly 766 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 26 funds held shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) at the end of the first quarter of 2016, down from 29 a quarter earlier. Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group owns more than 3 million shares of the company.
ArcelorMittal Signs New Deal, Gets “Buy” Rating From Citigroup
ArcelorMittal SA (ADR) (NYSE:MT)’s stock has climbed by over 3% so far today after the after the company said it had signed a 10-year agreement with Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF) to buy iron-ore pellets The contract sets a limit of minimum tonnage of pellets at 7.0 million long tons. On Wednesday, Citigroup upgraded ArcelorMittal’s stock to “Buy” from “Neutral. As of the end of the first quarter, 21 funds were bullish on ArcelorMittal SA (ADR) (NYSE:MT), having amassed $235.2 million worth of stock. Jonathan Barrett and Paul Segal’s Luminus Management owns more than 11.8 million shares of the company.
Move on to the next page to see why Achaogen, Valeant and Relypsa are advancing today.
Achaogen Gets $20 Million from BARDA
Achaogen Inc (NASDAQ:AKAO)’s stock has skyrocketed by more than 40% after getting awarded a $20 million contract option by Biomedical Advanced Research and Development for the development of Plazomicin, a Multi-Drug resistant to gram-negative infections. The California-based biopharmaceutical company also said that it has achieved more than 50% patient enrollment in its ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of Plazomicin. Just nine hedge funds from our system reported stakes in Achaogen Inc (NASDAQ:AKAO) worth approximately $3.2 million in aggregate as of the end of March.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals to Announce Earnings on June 7
Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) is trading 2.55% in the green after the company announced on Tuesday that its five PROVENGE scientific abstracts and one abstract of the results of Phase II study of DN24-02 have been accepted for the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The meeting will take place from June 3-7 in Chicago. Valeant Pharmaceuticals also said that it will announce its first-quarter results on June 7 and the consensus among analysts includes EPS of $1.38 on revenue of $2.38 billion. The Canadian drugmaker has been under fire for delaying its quarterly reports. An in-house review of accounting practices lingered the announcement of quarterly report. As of the end of March, 71 hedge funds rom our database were bullish on Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX). The total value of their investments stood at around $3.1 billion.
Relypsa Will Benefit from ZS-9 Refusal, Analysts Think
Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP) is rebounding today after Mizuho Financial Group’s analyst Irina Rivkind raised the price target for the Redwood-based pharmaceutical company to $20 from $12, citing possibilities of a buyout. According to Rivkind, the recent refusal by the FDA to approve ZS-9, AstraZeneca‘s (AZN) drug for hyperkalemia will help the “slow launch” of the company’s competing drug Veltassa. This makes the company attractive for an acquisition. The analyst also thinks that ZS-9 will eventually be launched. BTIG Research firm also gave “Buy” rating to Relypsa based on the similar reasons. Samuel Isaly‘s OrbiMed Advisors owned more than 7.4 million shares of Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP) at the end of March this year. It is one of the 14 funds in our database with stakes in the company.
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