Why Shares of Paragon, Newell, Seadrill, Pandora and Genworth Are Soaring Today

This Troubled Driller Just Restructured its Debt

Shares of Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL) are up by more than 8% in Friday trading after the offshore driller with the largest debt load in its industry announced that it had reached an agreement with its banks to extend three borrowing facilities. This is just the “first phase of a broader plan to refinance and recapitalize the business,” the company explained in a press release. “By deferring our imminent borrowing maturities, resetting a number of covenants and removing the risk of facility prepayments related to declining rig values we have established a more stable platform to pursue and conclude negotiations with our stakeholders,” CFO Mark Morris said in the statement.

As of the end of 2015, Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL) was in the portfolios of 21 hedge funds in our database, including that of Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell‘s Arrowstreet Capital, which declared holding 4.98 million shares of the company as of December 31 after nearly doubling its holding during the fourth quarter.

Paragon Now 9-Times More Expensive than on Wednesday

Next up is Paragon Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:PRGN), a troubled Greece-based nano-cap shipping transportation services provider, which is up by more than 54% today. As impressive as today’s move is, it pales in comparison to the move that took place on Thursday, when the stock gained 573.34%. The gains posted over the course of the past two days now amount to a monumental 938%. So, what’s the deal?

Well, Paragon Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:PRGN)’s stock had hit a record low of $0.26 on Wednesday, after losing 92.55% of its value between March 3 and last Wednesday. The huge decline followed a 1-for-38 reverse stock split, effective March 1, which exacerbated previous reports that the company was filing for bankruptcy. However, on Thursday, the company’s management said that it had filed a lawsuit against the news site TradeWinds and its reporter Joe Brady Stamford for defamation damages, arguing that the website and its author’s claims about the company’s imminent and Board-approved bankruptcy were “totally untrue”.

Separately, the company announced that it has reached an agreement to delay the deliveries of three drybulk carriers, and that it would not be able to meet upcoming interest payments due on some senior notes “due to a lack of liquidity”. Three funds in our database were long Paragon Shipping at the end of 2015.

Pandora’s Revenue and Guidance Surprises Investors

Finally, we’ve got Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P), which is up by 5.5% on Friday afternoon after the announcement of the company’s first quarter financial results. On Thursday afternoon, the music streaming services provider posted a net loss of $0.20 per share on revenue of $297.31 million, beating the Street’s consensus estimate of a loss of $0.29 per share on revenue of $285.52 million. The firm also boosted its full-year guidance, helping the stock surge even higher. Management now expects revenue of $1.41 billion-to-$1.43 billion in 2016, up from a previous projection of $1.40 billion-to-$1.42 billion, and hitting expectations of $1.41 billion on the low end of the company’s guidance range. Furthermore, the company anticipates an EBITDA loss of $50 million-to-$70 million for the full 2016 year, down from a previous forecast of a $60 million-to-$80 million loss, and now fully below the consensus estimate of a loss of $71 million.

Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) has gained traction in the hedge fund world recently. Over the fourth quarter of 2015, the number of funds in our database long the stock rose by 33% to 48. These firms held more than 35% of the company’s total shares. The largest stake was held by Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital, which declared owning 10.73 million shares of the company as of December 31.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.