Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are in Spotlight on Friday

The US stock market is trading higher on Friday, with NASDAQ registering gains north of 1%, and Dow Jones and S&P 500 up by 0.67% and 0.80%, respectively. Meanwhile, several stocks are trending today in connection with their recently-released financial results for the last quarter, including Deere & Company (NYSE:DE), Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL), Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), and Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST). In this article, we are going to discuss some highlights from these companies’ latest financial results and take a look at some of the largest shareholders that revealed stakes in the latest round of 13F filings.

We assess the hedge fund sentiment towards these stocks, because, through extensive research, we determined that imitating some of the picks of hedge funds and other institutional investors can help generate market-beating returns over the long run. The key is to focus on the small-cap picks of these investors, since they are usually less followed by the broader market and are less price-efficient. Our backtests that covered the period between 1999 and 2012, showed that following the 15 most popular small-caps among hedge funds can help a retail investor beat the market by an average of 95 basis points per month (see more details here).

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s stock has lost around 5% so far today after the company posted a fiscal second-quarter net income of $1.56 per share, higher than the expected $1.48, while its revenue declined by 3.5% on the year to $7.88 billion and was $1.16 billion above estimates. For the total fiscal 2016, Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s said it expects a net income of around $1.2 billion and revenue is anticipated to fall by 9%. For the current quarter, the sales are forecasted to decrease by 9%. “Although our forecast calls for lower results this year in light of ongoing market pressures, Deere is continuing to perform at a much higher level than in previous downturns,” chairman and CEO Samuel R. Allen was quoted as saying in a statement. Among the funds we track, the largest positions in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s were held by Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway and David Blood and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, which reported ownership of 23.28 million shares and 6.06 million shares, as of the end of March, respectively.

Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) posted fiscal first-quarter EPS of $1.39, in line with analysts’ estimates, but the revenue of $1.99 billion, though up by 3.6% on the year, missed the estimates by some $10 million. The first-quarter comparable store sales increased by 2.9% and gross margin was unchanged at 35% of sales. During the quarter ended April 30, Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) opened 32 new stores, closed 19 locations and remodeled or relocated 55 stores, according to a press released. On the back of the revenue miss and comparable store sales growth below the expected 4.5%, Foot Locker’s stock has declined by nearly 7% on Friday. Harris Associates initiated a stake in Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) during the first quarter, and reported ownership of 6.69 million shares in its latest 13F filing.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)‘s stock has grown by 12.51% on Friday on the back of the company posting EPS of $0.34 for the fiscal second quarter, above the estimates by $0.02, while the revenue of $2.45 billion was higher than the anticipated $2.42 billion. For the third quarter, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) said it forecasts EPS in the range of $0.46 to $0.50, compared to a consensus estimate of $0.36. John Overdeck and David Siegel‘s Two Sigma Advisors reported holding 6.77 million shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT).

Finally, Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) reported EPS of $0.73, in line with analysts’ expectations, while revenue of $3.09 billion, missed the estimates by $30 million. In a statement, CEO Barbara Rentler said the company forecasts same store sales for the current quarter in the range of 1% to 2% and EPS in the range of $0.64 to $0.67, while for fiscal 2016, Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) expects EPS between $2.63 and $2.72. AQR Capital Management held 1.65 million shares of Ross Stores at the end of March.

Disclosure: none