Wednesday’s Trending Stocks: Twitter, Statoil, Mondelez, More

The markets have opened higher on Wednesday as investors evaluate the slew of earnings reports inundating the market and await word from the Federal Reserve on rate hike and the global economic outlook. Among the stocks on investors’ radar this morning are Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR), AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS), Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ), and Statoil ASA(ADR) (NYSE:STO). Let’s find out why these stocks are in the spotlight today and see what the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey think of each of them.

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Twitter Posts Disappointing Quarter

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s stock is getting spanked this morning, diving by more than 11%, as the beleaguered company’s second quarter revenue and third quarter outlook missed analysts’ estimates. The social media company reported second quarter EPS of $0.13 on $602 million in revenue, while the consensus estimates had called for $0.10 in EPS on $606.77 million in revenue. Twitter said that declining demand from advertisers is expected to hurt its third quarter results as well. User growth remains a long-standing problem for Twitter. The company added just 3.00 million new users in the quarter, up by 1% from the end of the first quarter. However, in a statement, Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey appeared hopeful of future user growth. Mr. Dorsey said that new product changes have laid a foundation for strong user growth in the future. For the third quarter, Twitter forecast its revenue to be in the $590 million-to-$610 million range, a far cry from the $681.4 million that analysts called for. A total of 27 hedge funds in our database held shares of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) at the end of the first quarter, down from 30 funds a quarter earlier.

Juniper Networks Margins Expected to Decline

Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) have lost more than 4% of their value since the bell today after the company posted an 11% fall in profit and warned of a decline in operating margins due to challenging market conditions. The California-based network products maker earned $0.50 per share in the second quarter, beating the estimated $0.47. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.22 billion, also beating analysts’ forecast of $1.19 billion. For third quarter however, Juniper Networks expects its EPS to be in the range of $0.48-to-$0.54, with the very top end of the range only meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management held 278,525 shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) on June 30, the position having been trimmed by 9% during the second quarter.

On the next page we’ll discuss why AK Steel, Mondelez, and Statoil are trending this morning.

AK Steel Beats Estimates

AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS)’s stock has surged more than 13% in morning trading on Wednesday after the company posted better than expected second quarter results. The Ohio-based steel company benefited from reduced vulnerability of spot prices following increased tariffs on steel imports, especially from China. Overall, AK Steel earned $0.08 per share, toppling the estimates of a loss of $0.02. Revenue of $1.49 billion missed forecasts of $1.53 billion however. In a press release, AK Steel’s CEO Roger K. Newport said that the decision to trim its exposure to commodity spot markets and increase its focus on higher value products contributed positively to the financial performance of the company during the quarter. Out of 766 active funds tracked by us, 17 of them were long AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) at the end of March.

Mondelez Enters China; Gets Upgrade from Susquehanna

Investors are watching Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ) keenly this morning after the company revealed its plans to tap into the Chinese chocolate market in September. The move comes at a time when Mondelez’s rival Hershey Co (NYSE:HSY) is facing intense pressure in China amid an economic slowdown in the country and declining demand. Meanwhile, financial services firm Susquehanna upped its rating on Mondelez International to ‘Positive’ from ‘Neutral’ on the back of the company’s possible acquisition of Hershey or its merger with some other Food & Beverage conglomerate over the next 12 months. Recently, Hershey rejected Mondelez’s $23 billion offer, but analysts believe that Mondelez will come back to the table with a sweeter offer. At the end of the first quarter, 63 hedge funds in our system were bullish on Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ), with the aggregate value of their holdings standing at $5.65 billion.

Statoil Swings to Loss

Statoil ASA(ADR) (NYSE:STO)’s stock has dipped in the red by more than 2% today after the company posted a net loss of $307 million for the second quarter, surprising analysts who had forecast $264 million in net profit. Revenue for the quarter declined by 33% to $10.81 billion, also widely missing the consensus estimate of $11.71 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes also plunged by 68% to $913 million, well off the $1.31 billion predicted by analysts. Statoil also announced that it will slash its expenditures by 8% to $12 billion in 2016. Among the hedge funds in our database, just seven were long Statoil ASA(ADR) (NYSE:STO) at the end of the first quarter.

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