Why Investors Are Buzzing about SM Energy, Oasis Petroleum, Tile Shop, eBay, and Facebook

Although interest rate hikes could be just around the corner given the November election and the latest data showing that the U.S. consumer-price index rose 1.5% year-over-year in September, traders don’t seem too concerned as all three major indexes are in the green today.

Among the stocks that traders are paying attention to are two energy companies, two tech companies, and one retailer. Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why investors are buzzing about each stock and find out what hedge funds think about each company in question. More specifically, we are going to discuss SM Energy Co (NYSE:SM), Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS), Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTS), eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).

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It sure seems that SM Energy Co (NYSE:SM) is in M&A mode. A few months after completing one big deal, SM is at it again, this time announcing that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire 35,700 net acres in West Texas to expand the company’s Midland Basin footprint to around 82,450 net acres. SM will pay $1.1 billion in cash and will offer 13.4 million shares of common stock to the seller, QStar LLC. To cover some costs, SM announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Williston Basin assets outside of Divide County for $785 million to Oasis Petroleum. Dmitry Balyasny‘s Balyasny Asset Management established a new position in SM Energy Co (NYSE:SM) of 651,793 shares during the second quarter.

As mentioned previously, Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) is trending because it agreed to buy 55,000 net acres in the Williston Basin from SM for around $785 million. The properties to be acquired are expected to produce 12,400 Boe/d in the thee months ended December 31. To pay for the acquisition, Oasis has commenced an underwritten public offering of 48 million shares at $10.80 apiece and has granted underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 7.2 million shares additionally. Moreover, Oasis has also announced third-quarter preliminary results of average daily production of 48,509 BOE, and estimated capex of between $76 million and $81 million. The company has also increased full-year stand-alone guidance of 49,300 to 50,000 Boepd. The number of funds from our database with holdings in Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) inched up by four quarter-over-quarter to 33 at the end of June.+

On the next page, we will find out why the spotlight is shining on Tile Shop Hldgs, eBay, and Facebook.

Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTS) shares have surged by 7.4% after the company reported earnings of $0.10 per share on revenue of $78.6 million for the third quarter, beating profit estimates by $0.02 per share and meeting top-line expectations. Sales grew by 8.6% on the year, as comparable stores sales growth amounted to 5.7%. Gross margin for the period stood at 70.2%, down from 70% a year earlier. The company expects full-year earnings of $0.45 to $0.47 per share, versus the Street’s estimate of $0.45. while sales outlook of $324 million to $324 million is relatively in line with analysts’ expectations of $325.98 million. At the end of June, 21 funds tracked by us held shares of Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTS), compared to 18 funds a quarter earlier.

Although Mark Zuckerberg’s company is technically competing against it with ‘Marketplace’, eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) has chosen to be practical and avail itself to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)‘s billion-plus user base. According to Bloomberg, eBay is testing ShopBot, a personalized shopping assistant designed to seem like a regular human customer service representative powered by artificial intelligence, on Facebook’s Messenger platform. Ebay Chief product officer R.J. Pittman commented: “We’re going to where our users are, versus letting it all play out on Ebay.com and our mobile app”. If the initiative is successful, Facebook could have a new functionality for its app that it could later charge money/enact a fee on. Facebook would also better diversify itself away from advertising. eBay, meanwhile, could realize substantially more revenues from another sales channel. Among the funds we track, 58 investors held shares of eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) and 148 funds were long Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) at the end of June.

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