What You Need To Know About These 5 Moving Stocks

The markets opened lower today as weak earnings reports from several tech giants and an important upcoming decision by the Federal Reserve regarding interest rates has shaken investor sentiment. Among the noteworthy companies that released their earnings today are Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS), Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) and Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS). In this article, we’ll look at the performance of these five companies during their latest financial quarter and also consider what the hedge funds in our database think of each of them.

At Insider Monkey, we track around 785 hedge funds and other institutional investors. Through extensive backtests, we have determined that imitating some of the stocks that these investors are collectively bullish on can help retail investors generate double digits of alpha per year (see more details about our small-cap strategy).

Panera Bread Beats Estimates

Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA)’s stock has gained around 1.52% so far today as the company reported its financial results for the first quarter after the market close yesterday. The food company reported EPS of $1.56, better than the $1.50 consensus estimate. The $35 million in first quarter income was up from $32 million in the first quarter of last year. Quarterly revenue rose by 6% to reach $685 million. The company now expects full-year earnings in the range of $6.50 to $6.70 per share.

Out of 785 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 18 funds held long positions in Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA) with a total value of $578.8 million at the end of 2015. Charles Paquelet’s Skylands Capital owned 19,925 shares of the company at the end of March.

Comcast Corporation’s Revenue Increases; in Talks to Buy Dreamworks

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s stock has gained 0.88% today after the company announced better-than-expected first quarter results. The media giant’s net income increased by 3.9% year-over-year to $2.24 billion, while revenue grew by 5.3% to $18.79 billion. Comcast Corporation’s customer base reached 28 million in the first quarter, a 36% increase compared to the same quarter of last year. The company also added 53,000 new video customers in the first quarter.

Also of note today is a Wall Street Journal report that Comcast Corporation is in talks to buy Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) for $3 billion. The Hollywood studio has recently had a number of unsuccessful buyout talks, including with Softbank in 2014. Hasbro was also rumored to be close to buying DreamWorks in 2014, but the deal was eventually scuttled, reportedly due to pressure from Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS).

A total of 83 hedge funds in our system held long positions in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) at the end of the fourth quarter, valued at $8.7 billion. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is one of the biggest stakeholders in the company, with ownership of more than 12 million Comcast shares as of March 31.

We study the mixed financial results of three more companies on the next page.

Barclays’ Profit Plunges

Shares of Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) have gained a modest 0.20% after the company reported a 25% pre-tax decline in its profits for the first quarter. The financial services company’s total income declined to $631 million from $677 million in the same quarter of 2015. However, the London-based bank reported a 53% increase in profits from its core business. That core business will stay intact after the ongoing restructuring that was announced in March.

In a statement, Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays PLC, said that the increase in the core business’ profits shows the potential of the company once it frees itself of the non-core entities. Mr. Staley added that in the first quarter, the company shut down its operations in nine countries, sold its Portuguese retail banking business, its wealth management and services for small enterprises divisions, and made progress on other planned sales.

Overall, 12 hedge funds in our system held long positions in Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) at the end of last year with a total value of $275.4 million. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owns more than 21 million shares of the company as of March 31.

Garmin Posts Better-Than-Expected Q1 Results

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) has gained 3.41% in trading today after the company announced its first quarter results this morning, which beat expectations. The company’s profit increased by 32% to reach $88.1 million, or $0.46 per share. The navigation company’s revenue was $624 million for the quarter, a 6.6% year-over-year jump. Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s CEO, said that the increase in revenue was the result of robust double-digit growth in the company’s marine and outdoor segments.

Out of the 785 active hedge funds that we track, 20 of them held stakes in Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) at the end of 2015, worth $128.1 million. Eric Sprott’s Sprott Asset Management owns 115,000 shares of the company as of the end of March.

Cirrus Logic Takes Hit Due to Declining iPhone Sales

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS)’s stock has tumbled today after the company reported a 43% decline in earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016. The semiconductor company reported net income of $14 million, or $0.21 per share, down from $21.3 million, or $0.32 per share for the fourth quarter of the 2015 fiscal year. Revenue for the quarter was $231.9 million, down from $255.1 million in the year-ago period. Cirrus Logic struggled due to declining sales of Apple’s iPhones. The company makes audio chips for Apple, which reported a 13% year-over-year decline in revenue today, because of tumbling iPhone sales.

24 funds in our system held positions in Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) at the end of 2015 worth $133.6 million. Eric Sprott’s Sprott Asset Management owns 275,000 shares of the company as of March 31.

Disclosure: None