Surging Stocks: Aehr Test Systems, Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Great Basin Scientific, More

All three indexes are in the green on this Tuesday afternoon, as traders are eagerly anticipating Thursday’s jobless claims and next week’s FOMC meeting. Among the stocks rising more than most today are Vince Holding Corp (NYSE:VNCE), Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN), Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY), Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR), and Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP). Let’s find out why traders are buying up these stocks and see how the elite funds in our database are positioned in them.

Hedge fund sentiment is an important metric for assessing the long-term profitability. At Insider Monkey, we track over 765 hedge funds, whose quarterly 13F filings we analyze and determine their collective sentiment towards several thousand stocks. However, our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

Vince Holding Beats Expectations

Vince Holding Corp (NYSE:VNCE) shares have popped by around 5% today after the company reported a loss of $0.05 per share on revenue of $67.65 million for its first quarter of fiscal year 2016 ended April 30, beating the consensus estimates by $0.06 per share and $12.2 million respectively. Sales rose by 13.1% year-over-year as wholesale segment sales increases by 16.9%, offsetting the comparable sales decrease of 12.3%. For the full 2016 fiscal year, the company expects revenue of $290 million-to-$305 million and EPS of flat-to-$0.06 per share. The guidance fits with analysts’ expectations of $299 million in revenue and $0.03 per share in earnings. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies was one of the top shareholders of Vince Holding Corp (NYSE:VNCE) at the end of March.

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Nano-cap Great Basin Rises

Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) is 11.66% higher today after the company began a clinical trial for its Stool Bacterial Pathogens Panel, a multi-plex molecular assay detecting common bacterial agents present in individuals suspected of acute gastroenteritis. The Stool Bacterial Pathogens Panel is Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN)’s second multiplex panel. Shares of Great Basin Scientific are down by 95% year-to-date. None of the funds in Insider Monkey’s database of 766 active funds owned shares of the company at the end of March.

On the next page we examine why Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc, Aehr Test Systems, and Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc are flying high today.

Helios and Matheson Analytics Continues to Rally in Wake of Merger Annoucement

Nano-cap Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) has popped by more than 58% on robust volume after the company announced a pending merger with Zone Technologies yesterday, the creator of RedZone Maps. RedZone Maps is a real-time, GPS-driven crime and navigation map application and the two companies plan to leverage their artificial intelligence capabilities to enable RedZone Maps to further expand globally. The financial terms of the merger weren’t disclosed. Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) wasn’t in the portfolios of any of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the end of the first quarter.

Aehr Test Systems Wins Order

Nano-cap Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR), a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and burn-in equipment, is around 68% in the green after announcing that it received its first order for the company’s new FOX-XP production test cell. The order is worth over $4.5 million and $1.4 million of the order is payable immediately. The remainder is expected to paid through early calendar year 2017. CEO Gayn Erickson commented on the contract:

“We are very excited about this new customer for our FOX-XP multi-wafer burn-in and test system and to receive the first order for a full production test cell of this new product. The customer is one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers and has selected the FOX-XP solution for a high-volume production application where extended burn-in is required to meet their stringent quality standards.”

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) was not held by any of the elite funds in our database as of March 31.

Synergy Rallies on Technicals and Value

Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP) shares have rallied by 9.11% today as traders snap up the stock in the hopes that the beaten-up biotech’s momentum will continue. Shares of the stock have surged past several moving averages and are up by more than 50% since mid-May. Synergy’s lead product candidate is plecanatide, which has a PDUFA date of January 29, 2017. Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP) was in 21 elite funds’ portfolios at the end of March.

Disclosure: None