Why Are Traders Piling Into These 5 Stocks Today?

Although the NASDAQ futures are off by more than 1% and the Dow and S&P 500 futures are also lower this morning, shares of Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS), Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA), Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT), Examworks Group, Inc. (NYSE:EXAM), and Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) are all surging. Let’s find out why investors are piling into these stocks and see how the world’s greatest investors were positioned in them at the start of this year.

Our backtests that covered the period between 1999 and 2012, showed that following the 15 most popular small-caps among hedge funds can help a retail investor beat the market by an average of 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

Amyris Surges on Supply Deal

Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) is 30.8% higher after the company announced a five-year Biofene supply agreement with an unnamed nutraceuticals company. The agreement replaces the parties’ existing one year purchase agreement and has an expected value of over $100 million in terms of total revenue. In the fifth year of the contract, the supply agreement is projected to yield $40 million in annual revenue. Due to the competitive nature of the market, the identity of the customer’s name has not been released. Five funds that we track in our database of about 785 elite funds owned $6.88 million worth of Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) shares at the end of the fourth quarter. As with all micro-caps, investors exercise due diligence before making an investment decision.

Dreamworks Up on Potential Sale

Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) shares have soared by 14% out of the gate after the Wall Street Journal published a column stating that Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is in talks to purchase DreamWorks for over $3 billion. Comcast is in expansion mode after purchasing Universal Pictures and the company would like to beef up its content division to offset any secular decline in its cable business due to cord cutting. As with all rumors or reports of potential M&A activity, the purchase of Dreamworks isn’t guaranteed to occur, so investors should consider the stock on its own merits as well as the potential benefits of the merger to see if the price is right. The number of shareholders of Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) in our database increased by four quarter-over-quarter to 13 as of the end of 2015.

On the next page we examine the latest happenings involving Fortinet, Examworks Group, and Boston Scientific Corporation.

Fortinet Rallies After Earnings Beat

Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for its first quarter and the company’s shares are 5.7% higher because of it. For the first three months of the year, Fortinet earned an adjusted $0.12 per share on sales of $284.6 million, beating estimates by $0.03 per share and $11.14 million respectively. Sales rocketed up by 33.7% year-over-year while billings grew by 30% year-over-year. Deferred revenue rose to $837.2 million, up from the fourth quarter’s $791.3 million. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management was a top shareholder of Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) in our database at the end of December.

Examworks to Sell Itself

Examworks Group, Inc. (NYSE:EXAM) is 5.78% in the green after the company entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. for $35.05 in cash per share. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. ExamWorks’ board of directors has approved the merger agreement and recommends shareholders vote in its favor as well. Examworks also has a 25-business-day period concluding on June 1 to see if it can get a better deal with other companies. Of the 786 active funds that we track, nine of them owned $74.42 million of Examworks Group, Inc. (NYSE:EXAM)’s shares on December 31, which accounted for 6.70% of the float.

Boston Scientific Soars On Good First Quarter Results

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) shares have soared by 9% after the company earned $0.28 per share on sales of $1.96 billion in the first quarter, beating the consensus estimates by $0.04 per share in earnings and $50 million in revenue. Revenue jumped by 10.7% year-over-year, led by Boston Scientific’s MedSurg division, which saw sales jump by 25.8%. Second quarter guidance was for GAAP EPS of $0.14-to-$0.17, adjusted EPS of $0.25-$0.27, and sales of $1.927 billion-to-$1.980 billion. For the full 2016 year the company is guiding for GAAP EPS of $0.64-to-$0.69 and adjusted EPS of $1.06-to-$1.10, each of which was up slightly from previous guidance. The number of elite funds in our system with holdings in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) decreased to 33 from 37 during the fourth quarter.

Disclosure: None