Investors Are Buzzing About Alibaba, Twitter, Alphabet, and Two Other Companies

The three main index futures contracts are in the green this morning as traders expect an acommodative Fed during today’s FOMC meeting. Crude futures are in the red after a bearish API report yesterday. Among the stocks in the spotlight today today are Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). Let’s take a closer look at the latest developments surrounding these stocks and see what funds from our database think about them.

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Metlife CEO to Remain Boss for Longer

Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET) has waived the company’s retirement policy to allow the company’s 64 year-old CEO, Steven Kandarian, to remain the boss for another several years. Although the insurer originally had a policy of mandatory retirement for any CEO older than 65, the company made an exception in Kandarian’s case. Metlife is in the ‘midst of dramatic change’, and needs strong and proven leadership. A total of 50 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET) at the end of March.

Google Fiber Looking To Expand

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s Google Fiber is purportedly making some moves in Dallas, with the unit talking with city officials to learn more about the topography, infrastructure, and other data needed to build a fiber network. Fiber is already present in Austin and will be available in San Antonio soon. The more people who use Google Fiber’s fast internet service, the more search queries are made, and the more profitable Alphabet becomes. A total of 155 funds in our database had a long position in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s class A stock at the end of the first quarter, up by one over the quarter.

On the next page, we examine Boeing Co, Alibaba Group Holding, and Twitter.
State Department’s ‘No Comment’ Brings Up Questions 

Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) is trending today after the State Department declined to say whether Boeing has a legal license to sell commercial jet planes to Iran. Iran announced yesterday that the country had agreed to buy a number of civilian airplanes from Boeing for the first time in several decades. However, the state department did say that the completed Iran deal a few quarters ago does allow the sale of airplanes. That means Boeing could be in compliance and for some reason the State Department is just obfuscating. Among the funds we track, 37 funds owned shares of Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) according to the latest round of 13F filings. 

Jack Ma Stirs Up Some Controversy

Given that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA)’s CEO, Jack Ma, has always been known for his honesty and bluntness, it’s not surprising that he said in a speech in China’s Hangzhou that, ‘OEMs are making better products at a better price’. The phrase implied that some counterfeit products offer more value to the consumer than the original branded products do. Alibaba’s eCommerce platforms have sometimes been accused of facilitating the sale of fakes and the company has taken an image hit because of it. With China trying to move up the value ladder, intellectual property is more important and counterfeit products are less tolerated. Analysts expect Alibaba to crack down harder on counterfeit going forward. A total of 67 funds tracked by us were long Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) at the end of the first quarter, down by 10 funds from the previous quarter.

Twitter Buys a Stake in a Start-Up

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is in the news after making a $70 million investment in the music start-up SoundCloud, valuing the company at around $700 million. SoundCloud has around 175 million monthly active listeners and has substantial potential. Twitter originally considered buying the start-up two years ago, but decided against the move. Twitter shares have been on a tear of late, caused in part due to Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD). A total of 27 funds in our database are long Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) as of the end of March.

Disclosure: none