Markets were off to a good start after the long weekend amid a Consumer Department report showing a 1% increase in spending last month, highest in almost seven years. Some of the stocks worth watching today are Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ). Let’s take a closer look at why these stocks are in the spotlight today and see what hedge funds think of each of them.
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Apple To Extend Its iPhone Launch Cycle Amid Saturation
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock has lost around 0.14% so far today amid a report from Japan’s newspaper, Nikkei, which claimed that the California-based tech giant is considering to extend its iPhone launch cycle to once every three years. The source said that the change is coming because there is a scarce room left for major feature enhancements and innovation. Currently, Apple launches a new iPhone model after every two years. A new phone is expected this year, but apart from the minor changes, it will be almost similar to its predecessor. Apple recently reported a decline in its quarterly revenue for the first time in 13 years. The source said that business of Apple’s suppliers in Asia will be affected after the iPhone launch period extension. As of the end of first quarter 2016, 152 hedge funds from our system are long Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) with approximately $14.8 billion worth of shares in aggregate. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management has the biggest stake among these investors with the total ownership of more than 11 million shares.
Alibaba Halts Drug Sales on Tmall Website
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) has stopped selling medicines on its Tmall website after an “urgent” directive from Chinese regulatory authorities, which ordered the company to stop drug sales via third-party platforms. In a statement, Tmall website management announced that they will comply with the orders of China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). The orders from CFDA come as a surprise as the government in China recently started encouraging retail sales of over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to solve the high cost of medicines in the country. At the end of the first quarter, 67 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA). This shows a declining hedge funds sentiment as 77 funds were long the Chinese eCommerce giant a quarter earlier.
On the next page, we will discuss Micron, Oracle and Verizon.
Micron Technology Gets Outperform Rating by Baird
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock is trading in the green today after financial services firm Robert W. Baird & Co upgraded the stock to “Outperform” from “Neutral.” Tristan Gerra, an analyst at Baird, thinks that Micron’s NAND business has strong chances because Samsung is likely to shift from DRAM to NAND in the second half of the year. Mr. Gerra also thinks that the PC market and a rebounding smartphone market in China bring promising opportunities for the Idaho based semiconductor company. Out of the total funds tracked by us, 51 funds were bullish on Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) at the end of March, down from 64 funds a quarter earlier. Gifford Combs’s Dalton Investments has 1.4 million shares of the company, according to its latest 13F filing.
HP Drags Oracle in Court
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is back in court. This time, its opponent is Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which has accused Oracle of allegedly conspiring to hurt its Itanium-based systems business. HP is seeking $3 billion in damages from Oracle. A San Jose, California jury is set to hear the opening arguments from both sides on Tuesday. The legal battle between the two software titans started in 2011. According to HP, Oracle helped in hurting the sales of its Itanium-based systems because it became its competitor after acquiring Sun Microsystems in 2011. Oracle denies these allegations. Out of the total funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 62 funds have approximately $7.9 billion worth of stock as of the end of March 2016. Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick First’s Pacific Advisors LLC own more than 25 million shares of the company.
Verizon To Raise Salaries of Workers, Offer New Jobs
Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) gained 0.40% this morning after the details of its deal with unionized workers signed on May 27 emerged on Monday. According to the deal, the New Jersey-based telecom giant has promised a 10% raise in salaries and 1,400 new jobs. More than 36,000 unionized Verizon workers had been on a strike since April. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is one of the 61 hedge funds from our system that held stakes in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) at the end of the first quarter. Berkshire owns more than 15 million shares of the company.
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