Why Are These Stocks Gaining Ground on Tuesday?

It’s a good day to be a bull on Wall Street. Not only are all three indexes well in the green in afternoon trading, but crude futures are trading higher as well.

Among the stocks outpacing the market are Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA), Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT), Square Inc (NYSE:SQ), American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ:AMWD), and Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN). Let’s find out why these stocks are gaining ground today and what the smart money investors from our database think about them.

Hedge fund sentiment is an important metric for assessing the long-term profitability. At Insider Monkey, we track over 770 hedge funds, whose quarterly 13F filings we analyze and determine their collective sentiment towards several thousand stocks. However, our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

Wall Street Bull

Tableau Finds New CEO

Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA) has advanced by over 13% after the company announced that Adam Selipsky will replace Christian Chabot in the role of CEO effective September 16. Selipsky currently serves as Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Support for Amazon Web Services and has spent a decade building it into one of the world’s most successful technology platforms. Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA) bulls hope Selipsky can do the same thing for Tableau as well. Among the funds in our database, 34 funds held nearly 26% of Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA)’s stock at the end of June.

Daktronics Higher Following Earnings Release

Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) shares have risen 20% on the back of a strong earnings report for the first quarter of fiscal 2017. During the period (ended July 30), Daktronics earned $0.13 per share, versus estimates of $0.05 per share. The company also reported revenue of $157.1 million, which rose by 4.6% year-over-year and beat estimates by $10.35 million. In terms of outlook, Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT)’s management remains cautiously optimistic given the uncertain global macroeconomic factors that have caused some customers to delay their purchasing decisions. Nine funds tracked by us had a bullish position in Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) at the end of June, up by three funds from the previous quarter.

On the next page, we examine Square, American Woodmark Corporation and Nordson Corporation.

Analyst Upgrades Square 

Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) is 5.5% in the green today after analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded the payment processor to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ and lifted their price target to $15 per share. The analysts cited Square’s stronger-than-anticipated sales growth and the large size of Square’s total addressable market as reasons behind the upgrade. The analysts also like Square’s traction among large merchants and the ongoing tailwind of more electronic payments by consumers. The number of investors from our database long Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) rose by two to 16 during the second quarter.

American Woodmark Rises on Earnings Beat

Also trading higher today is American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ:AMWD), which earned $1.26 per share on revenue of $258.15 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 (ended July 31), beating the bottom-line expectations by $0.33 per share and missing the top-line consensus estimate by $4.56 million. Gross margin rose to 23% from 21.7% year-on-year, while the company generated net cash from operating activities of $32.9 million, versus $17.7 million a year earlier. Billionaire Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies held 707,701 shares of American Woodmark Corporation at the end of June.

Nordson Rises on Earnings

Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN)’s shares have spiked by 8% after the company reported strong results for the fiscal third quarter. During the quarter, Nordson earned $1.47 per share on sales of $489.9 million, beating the consensus estimates by $0.14 per share and $10.15 million, respectively. Sales advanced by 5.9% year-over-year as organic revenue inched up by 4% and pro-forma 12-week order rates increased by 16%. Backlog for the quarter ended July 31 was $333 million, an increase of 22% from the same period of the last year. Outlook is strong, with Nordson’s management expecting diluted earnings per share of $1.15 to $1.27 for the fiscal fourth quarter. At the end of the second quarter, 22 funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned shares of Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN), up by seven over the quarter.

Disclosure: None