Why BlackBerry, Accenture, Steelcase and Two Other Stocks are Trending Today?

All eyes on the UK on Thursday where a fateful referendum is underway which will decide whether the country should leave the European Union.

Latest polls this morning show that “Remain” has a lead on “Leave” so far. Rising oil prices also contributed to the spike in US stocks today. Among the trending stocks are BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN), Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC), Steelcase Inc. (NYSE:SCS), and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY). This article takes a closer took on the factors moving these stocks are analyzes what elite funds think of these companies.

Hedge fund sentiment is an important metric for assessing long-term profitability. At Insider Monkey, we track over 760 hedge funds, whose quarterly 13F filings we analyze to 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 (read more details here).

Adriano Castelli / Shutterstock.com

Blackberry Posts First Quarter Results

Let’s start with BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), whose stock has gained 2% before the bell after the company reported a break even adjusted EPS of $0.00 for the fiscal first quarter, better than the estimated loss $0.08 per share. Revenue for the quarter came in at $424 million, worse than the expected $470.94 million, as the company’s smartphone sales continue to suffer. Net loss came in at $670 million or $1.28 a share. Blackberry’s CEO said during the earnings call that the company’s first Android phone didn’t sell get a good response due to its high price. Mr. Chen said that Blackberry more than doubled its software revenue on a year-over-year basis for the second consecutive quarter due to its EMM, secure messaging and QNX embedded software businesses. A total of 24 hedge funds from our database were positioned in BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) as of the end of the first quarter. Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings owns approximately 46.72 million shares of the company.

Accenture Beats Estimates

Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN)’s stock gained 0.39% in premarket trading today after the company posted better than expected better-than-expected fiscal third quarter financial results,  driven by a strong demand for consulting services.  The Dublin, Ireland-based company reported EPS of $1.41, in-line with the estimates, but revenue of $8.43 billion topped the consensus estimate of $8.34 billion. New bookings in the quarter were worth $9.1 billion and show a 2% foreign-currency impact as compared to the same quarter last year. For the full year, Accenture sees its EPS in the range of $5.29 to $5.33. With approximately 1.32 million shares of Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN), Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management is one of 34 hedge funds from our database that held stakes in the company at the end of the first quarter.

On the next page, we discuss why Commercial Metals Company, Steelcase and Bed Bath & Beyond are on the move today.