TiVo, Tyco, and Baidu Among 5 Stocks Making Morning Headlines

On the last trading day of this busy earnings week, traders are eagerly dissecting the latest news and earnings reports coming out of TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO), Tyco International plc (Ireland) Ordinary Share (NYSE:TYC), VF Corp (NYSE:VFC), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO), and Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU). Given that market-impacting news and earnings reports can sometimes be a good indicator of future stock performance, let’s take a closer look at the events surrounding these five companies and use SEC filings to see how the world’s greatest investors are positioned in each of these stocks.

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TiVo Shares Spike on Merger

Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI) is officially buying TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) for $10.70 per share in cash and stock, for a total consideration of around $1.1 billion. Rovi will pay $2.75 in cash per share, subject to adjustment based on a collar mechanism, while the remainder of the offer will be paid in shares of common stock of the new holding company. The combined company expects to realize a minimum of $100 million in annual synergies, with almost two-thirds of the synergies expected to be realized in the first year after the deal closes. TiVo shares have rallied by 6% on the news to around $10 per share, while Rovi shares are up by 4.44%. Joel Greenblatt‘s Gotham Asset Management was one of the elite hedge fund shareholders of TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) at the end of 2015, while activist Glenn W. Welling’s Engaged Capital owned a large stake in Rovi Corporation, its top stock pick, on December 31.

Tyco Reports Mixed Quarter

This morning, Tyco International plc (Ireland) Ordinary Share (NYSE:TYC) reported EPS of $0.45 on sales of $2.33 billion for its second quarter of fiscal year 2016, meeting earnings estimates but falling short of sales expectations by $10 million. Sales declined by 4.1% year-over-year as organic revenue inched lower by 1%. Adjusted operating margin rose by 40 basis points to 10.7%. Management expects adjusted EPS of $0.52-to-$0.54 for the fiscal third quarter and $2.05-to-$2.10 for the full 2016 fiscal year. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies owned more than 2.1 million shares of Tyco International plc (Ireland) Ordinary Share (NYSE:TYC) at the end of December.

On the next page we examine the news that has shares of VF Corp, Moody’s Corporation, and Baidu Inc trending this morning.

VF Corp Turns in Good Quarter

VF Corp (NYSE:VFC) reported a good first quarter and its shares are modestly higher because of it. For the first three months of the year, VF earned $0.61 per share on revenue of $2.84 billion, beating estimates of $0.58 per share and $2.83 billion respectively. Although overall sales were largely unchanged from the first quarter of last year, the company’s top five brands saw their revenue inch up by 2%, while direct-to-consumer revenue rose by 7%. Management reiterated its full year revenue increase outlook of mid-single-digit percentage growth and EPS on a currency neutral basis to rise by 11% versus the adjusted EPS of $3.08 that the company earned in 2015. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management cut its holdings in VF Corp (NYSE:VFC) by 63% quarter-over-quarter to 656,400 shares by the end of the fourth quarter.

Moody’s Misses Top and Bottom-line Estimates

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) earned $0.93 per share on sales of $816.1 million for the first quarter, missing analysts’ expectations by $0.13 per share and $36.01 million respectively, as reduced global bond issuance weighed on performance. Given the weak market conditions, management is focused on containing costs and increasing efficiency. It has also lowered its 2016 full year EPS guidance to $4.55-to-$4.65, including a $0.02 dilution due to the acquisition of GGY in the first quarter. Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway owned almost 25 million shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) at the end of December.

Baidu Reports Strong Growth

Chinese search company Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) is 6.84% higher this morning after reporting first quarter earnings of RMB6.80 ($1.05) per share on sales of RMB15.82 billion ($2.44 billion). Baidu’s earnings beat estimates by $0.13 per share, while its revenue was in-line with projections. Mobile comprised 60% of total revenue for the quarter, up by ten percentage points from the first quarter of 2015. Management expects second quarter revenue of RMB20.11 billion-to-RMB20.58 billion ($3.10 billion-to-$3.18 billion), above the consensus of RMB20.1 billion ($3.10 billion) at the mid-point.

Of the 786 active funds that we track, 55 funds owned $4.19 billion worth of Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)’s shares on December 31, which accounted for 8.00% of the stock’s float on December 31.

Disclosure: None