Why Alibaba, Canadian Solar, Synacor and Two Other Stocks are Gaining Ground Today?

Market sentiment took a blow on Wednesday following dismal earnings reports from major companies. However, some stocks are gaining ground today. They include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ), Synacor Inc (NASDAQ:SYNC), Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) and SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY). Let’s find out the reasons behind the movement in these stocks and see what hedge funds think about them.

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Alibaba Expands Its MarketSafe Program

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) inched up by 0.77% in the green today after the company announced the creation of the IACC MarketSafe® Expansion Program with collaboration of International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC). The MarketSafe program was first started by Alibaba in 2013 to take down infringing listings on Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces using an expedited removal procedure. The expansion program promises to take small and large businesses and companies on board in this anticounterfiet project, free of charge. Last week, the eCommerce giant reported its fiscal fourth quarter results, beating the estimates on revenue.

Out of the 786 active funds that we track, 77 held positions in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) at the end of last year, with a total value of approximately $6.7 billion. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management is one of the biggest stakeholders in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) as of March 31, with ownership of more than 3.08 million shares.

Canadian Beats Estimates

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ)’s stock surged by more than 14% today after the company reported first quarter EPS of $0.39, better than the expected $0.14. Revenue for the quarter came in at $721.4 million, up from the analysts’ estimate of $663.74 million. The solar power company raised its full year revenue guidance to the range of $3.0 billion to $3.2 billion, up from the previous guidance of $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion. The company says that it expects strong module shipments in the year.

At the end of last year, 15 hedge funds had long positions in Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ), worth approximately $147 million. As of March, Clifford Fox’s Columbus Circle Investors owns 824,761 shares of the company.

We will discuss Synacor, Freeport-McMoRan and SolarCity on the next page.

Synacor Beats First Quarter Estimates 

Synacor Inc (NASDAQ:SYNC)’s stock grew more than 13% today after the company posted its better-than-expected first quarter financial results. The New York based Cloud and consumer electronics company reported a net loss of $0.05, better than the expected  loss $0.09. Revenue of $30.3 million also dwarfed the estimate of $28.6 million. For the full year, Synacor Inc (NASDAQ:SYNC) expects revenue between $130 and $135 million, up from the previous guidance of $125 to $130 million. In a statement, Synacor’s CEO, Himesh Bhise, said that the company continues to deliver growth and expand its margins. Mr. Bhise said that Synacor is making progress in renewing its customer portals, advertising, email, and video platforms. Last week, Synacor announced its multi-year deal with AT&T to run services across desktop and mobile portals. This would mean a $100 million annual income for Synacor after it deploys the new platform and migrates its customers to it by 2017.

Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management is one of the two hedge funds having stakes in Synacor Inc (NASDAQ:SYNC) at the end of last year. It has more than 1.1 million shares of the company.

Freeport-McMoRan Sells Stake in Africa

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) announced on Monday that it would sell its stake in TF Holdings Limited, a holding company that has an 80% stake Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to China Molybdenum. Freeport-McMoRan, which is the largest mining company in the US in terms of market value, also said that it would negotiate with China Molybdenum to sell its stakes in Freeport Cobalt for $100 million and Kisanfu Exploration project in Congo for $50 million. Freeport-McMoRan is trying to lighten its debt loads. The company announced at the start of this year that it would sell $4 billion worth of assets. On Tuesday, Noble Corp. (NYSE:NE) announced that it will get $540 million from Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) for not using its two drillships. According to the agreement between the two companies, Freeport-McMoRan was supposed to use the drillships till 2017, but the falling oil prices forced the company to change its plans. Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) are up more than 6% today.

As of the end of 2015, 37 hedge funds held stakes in Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), having approximately $1 billion worth of shares. As of March, Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management has 146,955 shares of the company.

SolarCity Rebounds

SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY)’s stock rebounded today after getting crushed yesterday on the back of reporting a first-quarter loss of $2.56 per share, much lower than the expected $2.34 per share. The San Mateo-based renewable energy company’s revenue rose by 82% on the year to $123 million, better than the expected $110 million. The company was hit by slowing growth and rising costs in the quarter.

Out of the total funds we track, 29 funds reported stakes in SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) as of the end of 2015. As of March 2016, Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management owns 19,097 shares of SolarCity.

Disclosure: None