Trading Week Kicks Off With A Bang for Wal-Mart and 4 Other Stocks

Disappointing trade figures out of China have investors on edge this morning as the trading week kicks off. Exports from the country dipped by 4.4% year-over-year in July, while imports crumbled by 12.5%. While the figures have some blaming the Brexit, Chinese exports also slid by 4.8% in June.

Among the companies grabbing investors’ attention this morning are Wal-Mart, Image Sensing Systems, Horizon Pharma, MEI Pharma, and Oasis Petroleum. We’ll take a look at what’s happening with these companies below and see how hedge funds have been trading their stocks recently.

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Wal-Mart Making a Move on Amazon?

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) initially spiked upon the ringing of the opening bell, but has since fallen to losses of 0.71% on the day after the retail giant announced the acquisition of Jet.com for $3 billion in cash. The purchase of the e-commerce startup further solidifies Wal-Mart’s attempts to take on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) head-to-head in the e-commerce arena. Among other things, the company has greatly expanded its e-commerce capabilities with the building of several large distribution centers and recently unveiled a delivery subscription service similar to Amazon’s Prime. Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway owned more than 55 million shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) at the end of March.

Image Sensing Systems Soars on Q2 Results

Image Sensing Systems Inc (NASDAQ:ISNS) has gained over 100% today thanks to its strong second quarter results that were released after the close of trading on Friday. Revenue was $4.7 million, up from $4.4 million a year earlier, while EPS jumped to $0.24 year-over-year from $0.13. Strong adoption of the company’s Sx-300 radar product helped it to achieve solid boosts in sales and sales margins during the quarter, and it has a next generation video detection device planned for release in the fourth quarter. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies owned 49,800 shares of Image Sensing Systems Inc (NASDAQ:ISNS) on June 30, up by 49% from the start of the second quarter.

We’ll check out what’s happening with three other trending stocks today on the next page.

Double Beat for Horizon Pharma

Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:HZNP) shares have jumped by over 6% today after the release of its third quarter of fiscal year 2016 results this morning. Revenue of $257.4 million easily bested analysts’ consensus estimate of $234.9 million, while the biopharmaceutical company pasted adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.56, topping estimates of $0.50. Each of the company’s three business units: orphan, rheumatology and primary care, performed well during the quarter. Actimmune, for the treatment of chronic granulomatous disease and severe malignant osteopetrosis, was a key driver of the strong top-line results.

The collection of 766 funds in our database that filed 13F’s for the March quarter loved Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:HZNP) on March 31, owning 33.60% of its common stock. 35 of those funds were long the stock at that time.

MEI Pharma Soars on Pracinostat Agreement

MEI Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:MEIP) shares have leapt by nearly 30% today after it reported entering into an exclusive licensing, development and commercialization agreement with Swiss pharmaceutical group Helsinn. The agreement for the commercial rights to its acute myeloid leukemia (AML) drug Pracinostat will see the company receive a $15 million upfront payment, plus another $5 million payment when the first patient is dosed in the upcoming Phase III study of the treatment. A further $444 million worth of milestone payments are eligible to be received based on sales performance and other factors. In addition to AML, the treatment will also be tested on other indications, to which Helsinn now owns the rights to as well.

Only two hedge funds in our database were long MEI Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:MEIP) at the end of March, those being Renaissance Technologies and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group. Shares of the nano-cap were nearly flat year-to-date at Friday’s close.

Oasis Petroleum Continues to Climb

A few days after posting big gains on an earnings beat, shares of Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) are up by over 8% today as positive momentum builds and oil has jumped by 2% this morning. Raymond James and Citigroup both upgraded the stock to ‘Strong Buy’ on Friday, with each firm also raising their price target on it to $17 from $14, which suggested upside potential of nearly 100% before the trading day began. In addition to the strong second quarter earnings that the company posted on Wednesday, it also raised its production guidance for the year to 48,500-to-49,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, from guidance of 46,000-to-49,000 issued in the first quarter. Shares of Oasis Petroleum are up by over 26% year-to-date. John H. Scully’s SPO Advisory Corp owned 19.91 million shares of Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) at the end of the first quarter.

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