What is Going On With These Falling Stocks?

The markets are relatively flat today, despite bearish economic data coming out of Europe. The S&P 500 is down by 0.17% while the NASDAQ is 0.10% in the green. Among the stocks that aren’t so lucky this morning are Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS), ConforMIS Inc (NASDAQ:CFMS), SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA), NV5 Global Inc (NASDAQ:NVEE), and Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TTPH), all of which are suffering heavy losses. In this article, we’ll analyze why traders are selling these equities and also examine relevant hedge fund sentiment towards each of them.

We believe that imitating hedge funds and other large institutional investors can be helpful in identifying stocks capable of outperforming the broader market. Through extensive research that covered portfolios of several hundred large investors between 1999 and 2012, we determined that following the small-cap stocks that large money managers are collectively bullish on, can generate monthly returns nearly 1.0 percentage points above the market (see the details here).

Michael Kors in the Red Due to Weak Sector Sentiment

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS) is the victim of negative sector sentiment today after Nordstrom, Inc (NYSE:JWN)’s latest quarterly report showed that its comparable-store sales declined by 1.7% year-over-year. If demand for luxury apparel is soft, Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS)’s future earnings results might not be all that great either. Because of the negative data point, shares of Michael Kors are down by 5% in morning trading. 27 top hedge funds in our database, including David Einhorn‘s Greenlight Capital, owned Michael Kors shares at the end of December, out of the 786 elite funds that Insider Monkey tracks.

Follow Capri Holdings Ltd (NYSE:CPRI)

Poor Guidance Sinks ConforMIS 

ConforMIS Inc (NASDAQ:CFMS) shares have more than halved this morning after the company offered weak guidance for the year. Although the company beat top and bottom-line expectations for the first quarter with a loss of $0.37 per share on revenue of $20.3 million versus estimates of a loss of $0.38 per share on sales of $19.23 million, ConforMIS Inc (NASDAQ:CFMS) revised downward its full-year revenue, to $76 million-to-$81 million from the previous guidance range of $84 million-to-$87 million. The company’s board of directors has also retained an executive search firm to seek out a replacement for current CEO Philipp Lang. Four top funds in our system owned a mere 0.70% of ConforMIS’ float at the end of 2015.

On the next page, we examine why shares of SINA Corp, NV5 Global, and Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals are also suffering this morning.

SINA Shares Drop on Negative China Sentiment

SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) is 3% in the red as negative China sentiment weighs on the stock. Due to a decade of fast infrastructure-led growth, many of China’s sectors are plagued with overcapacity and bad debt. Some investors, such as George Soros, think that China could experience a hard landing similar to the one that the U.S experienced beginning in 2007. If that happens, SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA)’s prospects will likely miss medium-term expectations. Within our database of 786 elite funds, 17 of them owned 11.6% of SINA’s float at the end of the fourth quarter, up by two funds from the end of the prior quarter.

NV5 Global Declines Due to Secondary Offering

NV5 Global Inc (NASDAQ:NVEE) shares have retreated 9% after the company launched an underwritten public offering of 1.7 million shares priced at $26.25 per share. The offering is expected to deliver net proceeds of $41 million to NV5 Global, which the company plans to use for potential acquisitions and other general corporate purposes. The underwriter also has a 30-day option to acquire 255,000 more shares. NV5 Global Inc (NASDAQ:NVEE) was in the portfolios of seven elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the end of December.

Follow Nv5 Global Inc. (NASDAQ:NVEE)

Tetraphase Retreats After the FDA Demands More Data

Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TTPH) has fallen by 18% today after the FDA notified the company that clinical data from an additional positive phase 3 trial will be needed to support an NDA submission for Tetraphase’s lead drug candidate, IV eravacycline. Because of the FDA’s response, Tetraphase plans to conduct another phase 3 trial that won’t be complete until the fourth quarter of 2017 or later. While the delayed timeline is disappointing, the company is confident in the efficacy of its treatment and believes that it could eventually provide a valuable option to patients. Of the 786 elite funds that we track, 13 of them owned $39.9 million worth of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TTPH) and on December 31.

Follow Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TTPH)

Disclosure: None