Trending Stocks: Berkshire Hathaway, Southwest Airlines, Tyson Foods, More

U.S stock futures opened higher on Monday after a 2% rise in oil prices, but the market struggled to maintain the rally following a decline in energy and materials stocks. Some companies also announced their latest quarterly earnings reports today, which significantly affected their own shares. Some stocks in the spotlight today are Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA), Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV), and HCP, Inc. (NYSE:HCP). We’ll take a look at why these stocks are making noise today and see how top hedge funds are positioned in them.

Berkshire Hathaway Misses Estimates

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) is 1.25% in the red today after the conglomerate headed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett missed earnings expectations by $487 a share. The company reported a 12% decline in operating earnings at $2,274 per share, down from the Thomson Reuters estimate of $2,761. Revenue in the quarter came in at $52.4 billion, up from $48.65 billion a year earlier. During the company’s 2016 annual meeting, Mr. Buffett said that the holding company’s insurance and railroad businesses are being dented because of low interest rates and cheap natural gas. Mr. Buffett warned investors that the results from the railroad business will remain below average because of the lower coal volumes amid the fall in gas prices. However, Mr. Buffett did add that Berkshire Hathaway makes decisions solely on the basis of what is best for its investments and not on how they would affect quarterly earnings.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, 76 hedge funds in our system held long positions in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), worth approximately $19.3 billion. As of March 31, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had more than 5.58 million shares of the company.

Tyson Foods Beats Estimates

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) has gained 1.81% today after the company posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.07 for the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, on revenues of $9.17 billion, beating estimates of $0.96 in EPS on $9.04 billion in revenue. The food production company now expects a fiscal year 2016 EPS in the range of $4.20 to $4.30, up from the previous guidance range of $3.85 to $3.95 and better than the estimates of $4.06. The impressive results in the fiscal second quarter were mainly due to declining feed prices amid an oversupply of corn and soybeans. The company also benefited from the fall in livestock costs.

37 funds in our database were shareholders of Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) at the end of last year, while First Eagle Investment Management owns more than 2.8 million shares of the company as of March 31.

On the next page we’ll discuss Teva Pharmaceutical, Southwest Airlines, and HCP, Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical’s Revenue Declines but Still Beats Estimates

Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd  (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) have journeyed 4.73% into the green today after the company posted first quarter EPS of $1.20, down from $1.36 per share in the first quarter of 2015, but better than the estimates of $1.17. Revenue in the quarter also declined year-over-year, by 3.5% to $4.81 billion, but also surpassed the consensus projection of $4.77 billion. The Israeli-based drug maker faced a 17% decline in its generic drugs business as the company lost exclusivity of its proton pump inhibitor Esomeprazole and Crohn’s disease medicine budesonide.

Overall, 81 funds in our database were long Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) at the end of last year.

Southwest Airlines Posts Strong Traffic Statistics

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV)’s stock has inclined by just under 1% today after the company reported impressive preliminary traffic statistics for April. The Texas-based airline company delivered 10.4 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in April, showing a 4.7% increase from April 2015. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased by 4.3% year-over-year for the month, to 12.4 billion, while its load factor of 83.4% was its highest ever for April. A statement from the company said that based on these results, it expects a “modest increase” to its second quarter operating revenue per ASM (RASM) when compared with the second quarter of 2015.

David Harding’s Winton Capital Management was one of the 52 hedge funds in our system with positions in Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) as of the end of 2015.

HCP, Inc Beats Revenue Estimates, Announces HCR ManorCare Spinoff

HCP, Inc. (NYSE:HCP) shares have surged by more than 4% today after the company posted first quarter earnings of $0.69 per share, in-line with analysts’ estimates, though down from $0.79 per share a year earlier. The real estate investment company’s revenue came in at $640.80 million, beating estimates of $621.93 million. For the full 2016 year, the company expects adjusted funds from operations (FFO) in the range of $2.77 to $2.83, while EPS is estimated to be between $1.80 and $1.86. HCP also announced today that its board has unanimously approved to spin-off its HCR ManorCare portfolio of skilled-nursing and assisted-living assets into a separately-traded real estate investment trust. The company said that this spinoff will help it focus on its core areas of senior housing and medical offices.

As of March 31, Ray Carroll’s Breton Hill Capital had 199,989 shares of HCP, Inc. (NYSE:HCP) in its portfolio.

Disclosure: None