These Five Stocks Are Plunging on Friday on Earnings and Other News

On Friday, the stock market is trading in the red following the release of U.S. jobs data, which showed that employers added 151,000 jobs in January, lower than the estimates of 190,000. However, the unemployment rate fell 100 basis points to 4.9% in January and was the lowest rate since February 2008. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the stocks that have plunged today, including Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ:LINE), and Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW). In addition to looking at the developments that sent these stocks lower, we will see the hedge fund sentiment towards these stocks.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see more details here).

Back to Friday’s losers, we’ve got Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA), whose shares are 46% in the morning session on the back of the company posting its financial results for the fourth quarter and full 2015. For the quarter, Tableau Software reported revenue growth of 42% on the year to $202.8 million, while its profit advanced to $0.33 per share. Moreover, the results exceeded the analysts’ profit estimates by $0.17 and beat revenue expectations by $2.03 million. However, the stock plunged due to weaker-than-expected guidance provided for the current quarter, which included a loss per share in the range of $0.08 to $0.12 and revenue between $160 million and $165 million. For the full fiscal 2016, Tableau Software’s outlook includes revenue of $830 million to $850 million (down from its previous guidance of $845 to $865 million) and EPS between $0.22 and $0.35. Both figures are below the Street’s expectations of $871.5 million and $0.62, respectively.

During the third quarter, Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA) registered an increase in popularity among the funds we track, with 45 investors holding long positions at the end of the third quarter, versus 39 funds a quarter earlier and they amassed only 20.2% of the float at the end of September. David Goel and Paul Ferri‘s Matrix Capital Management was the largest shareholder with 2.91 million shares, valued at $231.76 million at the end of September.

Similar to Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) has plunged 40% after lower-than-expected guidance. The company reported fourth-quarter EPS of $0.94 on revenue of $861.9 million, which beat analyst’s profit expectations by $0.16 per share and revenue estimates by $4.31 million. LinkedIn had 414 million members at the end of December, versus expectations of 409.7 million. However, the company’s first-quarter 2016 guidance of $0.55 in EPS and revenue of $820 million are below analysts’ forecasts of $0.74 and $866.86 million, respectively. Moreover, for the full year, the guidance of $3.05 to $3.20 in EPS and $3.6 billion to $3.65 billion in revenue is below analyst expectations of $3.67 and $3.91 billion.

Between July and September of the last year, LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) witnessed a decrease in popularity among the funds that we track, with 38 investors holding long positions at the end of September, versus 42 at the end of June. Among them, Alex Snow’s Lansdowne Partners was the largest shareholder, reporting ownership of 1.18 million shares as of the end of the third quarter.

Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES)’s shares are down by around 10.5% today after the company announced the pricing of its public offering of 25 million shares at $39.00 per share and 10 million depositary shares that represent 5% interest in mandatory convertible preferred stock. Moreover, the offerings allow underwriters, to purchase up to 3.75 million common shares and 1.5 million in depositary shares in 30 days. The company plans to obtain about $1.43 billion from both offerings.

Among the funds we follow, 41 reported long positions in Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) as of the end of September, down by two funds from a quarter earlier. Paul Singer‘s Elliott Management was the largest shareholder of Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) in our database, with 17.8 million shares valued at $891.1 million, according to its last 13F filing.

Next on our list of morning losers is Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ:LINE), which is off by 50%, after the company said it had hired a restructuring advisor in search of new alternatives and to improve its balance sheet. The decision came after the Oil & Gas MLP borrowed $919 million from its credit facility. Moreover, the company has seen several downgrades. Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus have downgraded the company to ‘Sell’ from ‘Hold’. Similarly, Ladenburg Thalmann downgraded the stock to ‘Sell’ from ‘Neutral’, while Raymond James downgraded it to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Market Perform’.

Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ:LINE) is not so popular among the funds we track. Just five funds reported long positions in Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ:LINE) in the previous round of 13F filings, down by one fund from a quarter earlier. Thomas E. Claugus‘s  GMT Capital was the largest shareholder of Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ:LINE) among the funds we track, with 265,400 shares valued at $937,000 at the end of September.

Last but not least, Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) is 20% in the red today after the company reported its first fiscal quarter financial results. The company reported a loss of $0.59 per share on revenue of $2.16 billion. The company’s fiscal first quarter earnings fell short of analyst estimates of a profit of $0.21 per share and revenue missed expectations by $10 million. In other news, Genworth Financial plans to make a big move in separating its long-term care business. Because of today’s drop, shares of Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) have lost around 40% year-to-date.

Hedge funds were pessimistic on Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) in the third quarter, with 28 funds long the stock at the end of the quarter, down from 37 funds long the stock at the close of the second quarter. Among the believers was ClearBridge, with a holding of 9.32 million shares at the end of September.

Disclosure: None