Tuesday’s Trending Tickers: TSLA, AMC, CKEC, UAL, PNRA

The bull market is alive and well for a third trading day in a row, as all three indexes are firmly in the green this morning, alongside crude, which is heartily pushing up the shares of many energy companies.

Our backtests that covered the period between 1999 and 2012, showed that following the 15 most popular small-caps among hedge funds can help a retail investor beat the market by an average of 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

Regulators Examine Tesla 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the SEC is investigating whether Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) skirted material disclosure laws by failing to disclose the death of Joshua Brown, a technology enthusiast who was using Tesla’s semi-automated driving technology when he died in a car crash in May. Although Tesla alerted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it failed to release the information to the public through an 8-K filing before the company’s multi-billion dollar secondary offering on May 18 to May 19. Tesla has consistently maintained that the crash was not material. As to whether Tesla was right in not disclosing the matter, various experts say that it is a ‘tough judgment call’ and that there are no clear rules governing the disclosure.

Of the 766 elite funds that we track, 39 owned $1.08 billion in Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares on March 31, which accounted for 3.60% of the float. Tesla was a popular stock during the first quarter, as there were just 29 funds with $837.44 million worth of Tesla positions on December 31.

AMC Not Budging on Bid Price

Although some Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC) shareholders think AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC)‘s $30 per share/$1.1 billion bid for the company is too low, AMC is holding firm. The movie chain recently put out a press release stating:

“We intend to continue to work this week with Carmike to see if the AMC/Carmike transaction can be saved, but we again note that the economics of a transaction get marginal very quickly for AMC above the $30 deal price. Therefore, the likelihood of an AMC/Carmike transaction continues to be at considerable risk.”

Carmike shareholders will vote on whether to sell their company to AMC on July 15. If AMC’s bid for Carmike fails, it looks like the company has a contingency plan. AMC recently announced that it has acquired Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group from a private equity firm for around $1.2 billion. 15 funds in our system had a bullish position in AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) at the end of the first quarter, while 26 savvy funds owned shares of Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC).

On the next page, we’ll examine why United Continental Holdings and Panera Bread are in the spotlight today.

United Reports Monthly Traffic Numbers

United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) is over 6% higher this morning on high trading volume after reporting its June traffic numbers. For the month, revenue passenger miles increased by 1.4% to 19.622 billion, while load factor rose by 80 basis points to 87.1%. Capacity inched up by 0.5% to 22.54 billion available seat miles. As for guidance, United Continental expects second quarter consolidated passenger unit revenue to drop by 6.5%-to-6.75% year-over-year. 61 funds in our database were long United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) at the end of the first quarter, down by 12 funds from the end of the prior quarter.

Analyst Gives Thumbs Up to Panera 

Analysts at Piper Jaffray remain ‘Overweight’ on Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA), citing channel checks that indicate Panera’s new food products are helping to increase traffic and revenue. The analysts also think Panera’s new food items could potentially help the company differentiate itself as a healthier alternative to other quick service restaurants. Piper Jaffray has a $237 price target on the stock, which is currently trading at $213.77, up by 0.68% so far in Tuesday’s session. 26 funds that we follow were long Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA) at the end of the first quarter, up by eight from the end of 2015.

Disclosure: None