Why Sarepta, Glu Mobile, Harmony Gold and 2 Other Stocks Are On The Move Today

The markets are mixed on Wednesday as investors remain cautious amid declining crude prices and rising bond yields, which could pressure stocks.

Some stocks are nonetheless gaining ground this morning, including Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), At Home Group Inc. (NYSE:HOME), Array Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ARRY), Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ:GLUU) and Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY). Let’s find out what has investors excited about these stocks today and also analyze hedge fund sentiment towards them.

In our backtests, a portfolio of the 15 most popular small-cap stocks generated monthly alpha of 81 basis points, versus 0.7 percentage points posted by hedge funds’ top large- and mega-cap picks (see more details here).

Harsh Critic of Sarepta’s Drug Departs

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) has jumped by some 20% today after it was reported that Dr. Ronald Farkas, a harsh critic of Sarepta’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug, Eteplirsen, had left the US Food and Drug Administration, making analysts hopeful regarding the drug’s approval. Dr. Farkas was the head of the clinical review team at the FDA. His primary concerns were regarding the randomized controlled trials and open-label extension studies conducted by the sponsor of the drug. Sarepta’s neuromuscular disease treatment has been under review for more than a year. Back in April, a 13-member FDA advisory committee voted against the approval of Eteplirsen, citing a lack of enough evidence to support the drug’s effectiveness against the disease. Out of the hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database, 20 were long Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) at the end of the second quarter. Joseph Edelman’s Perceptive Advisors owned 3.76 million shares of Sarepta Therapeutics at that time.

At Home Group Beats Estimates

Texas-based home décor company At Home Group Inc. (HOME) has gained 4.34% today after the company reported fiscal year 2017 second quarter earnings of $0.13 a share, beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.11, while revenue of $188.40 million also blew past the estimates of $183.50 million. Comparable-store sales for the quarter increased by 0.9%. For its full fiscal 2017, At Home Group Inc. (HOME) expects EPS of $0.53-to-$0.56, and revenue of $738 million-to-750 million. The company said its quarterly results, its first as a public company, display its broad consumer appeal and strong execution.

On the next page, we’ll discuss why Array Biopharma, Glu Mobile and Harmony Gold are in the spotlight today.

Array Biopharma Reaches Agreement with the FDA

Array Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ARRY)’s stock is narrowly in the red this morning after the company said that it had reached a Special Protocol Assessment agreement with the FDA regarding BEACON CRC, a global Phase 3 trial of encorafenib and Erbitux (cetuximab), with or without binimetinib. In a statement, Scott Kopetz, M.D, BEACON CRC investigator, said that BRAF-mutant CRC represents an unmet medical need as colorectal cancer is the third-most common cancer among men and women in the U.S. and there are no targeted treatment options available for it at this time. At the end of the second quarter, 17 funds tracked by us were bullish on Array Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ARRY).

Glu Mobile Acquires Poke Radar

After initially rising this morning, Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ:GLUU)’s stock is now 3% in the red after the company announced its acquisition of Poke Radar, a community-driven app built by Pokemon GO enthusiasts to help players locate and catch Pokemon. According to the deal, Glu Mobile will pay $500,000 for Poke Radar and its associated assets. Glu Mobile’s CEO Niccolo de Masi said in a statement that the company is “thrilled” to welcome the Poke Radar team on board. At the end of the June quarter, a total of nine funds in our system held stakes in Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ:GLUU).

Zacks Gives ‘Hold’ Rating to Harmony Gold Mining

Lastly we have Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY), which has gained around 3.39% so far today after investment firm Zacks upgraded the company to ‘Hold’ from ‘Sell’ on Tuesday. The firm said in a report that the estimates for the South Africa-based gold mining company have been stable lately, and that it is making progress with its Wafi-Golpu project along with its cost-cutting program. However, Zacks noted that Harmony Gold Mining is vulnerable to geopolitical risks, because of mine shut downs and labor strikes. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies is a notable shareholder out of the 11 in our system that owned shares of Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY) at the end of the second quarter.

Disclosure: None