The bull market is alive and well, as all three index futures are once again in the green, coming off two solid trading weeks in a row. Among the stocks traders are talking about this morning are ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE), and Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE). Let’s take a closer look at why each stock is drawing interest and see what the world’s greatest investors think of each of the five companies.
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).
ARM Holdings Surges on Buyout
ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH) shares are 43% higher in the pre-market after Japan’s SoftBank agreed to buy it for around $32 billion in cash. The deal will provide more exposure to the ‘Internet of Things’ for the Japanese tech conglomerate, which is expected to be a major growth market in the future. Analysts expect the number of Internet of Things devices to almost triple to 38.5 billion by 2020. Although it had some high profile M&A failures in the late 1990’s, SoftBank has had some major successes in terms of acquisitions and investments as well, the most important of which was the company’s early investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA). Bulls appear confident that the ARM acquisition will be one of the more successful M&A deals for the Japanese company. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management was a major shareholder of ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH) at the end of the second quarter, owning 1.28 million shares.
Follow A R M Holdings Plc (NASDAQ:ARMH)
Follow A R M Holdings Plc (NASDAQ:ARMH)
AMD on Watch After ARM Deal
Although there isn’t any fundamental news concerning the company, traders are watching chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) today after SoftBank agreed to buy ARM Holdings for $32 billion in cash. Given that ARM Holdings shares rallied by 43% on the news, there could potentially be some buying of Advanced Micro Devices shares based on relative valuation and pure speculation. 13 top funds in our system were long Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) as of March 31, down by three from December 31, 2015. AMD shares are up mildly in pre-market trading.
Follow Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD)
Follow Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD)
On the next page we check out the morning action concerning Yahoo!, NextEra Energy, and Hawaiian Electric Industries.
Yahoo! Final Bids Expected to Come In Today
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)‘s month-long quest to divest its internet assets is nearing the finishing stages, as the final bids from various parties are expected to come in today. According to the New York Times, analysts are expecting the final winning bid to be as much as $6 billion. Separately, Yahoo is expected to release its second quarter results after the market close today, with expectations being that they will show a noticeable year-over-year decline in profit and sales. Of the 766 elite funds that we track, 97 funds were shareholders of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) on March 31, owning $7.92 billion of its shares in aggregate, up from 84 funds with $5.92 billion in holdings on December 31.
Follow Altaba Inc. (NASDAQ:AABA)
Follow Altaba Inc. (NASDAQ:AABA)
Utility Merger Runs Into Hawaiian Regulators
NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE)‘s planned acquisition of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) ran into a major road bump this weekend after the Public Utilities Commission of Hawaii rejected the proposed combination between the two, citing concerns that the deal would not benefit utility consumers in the state. Some analysts think the rejection could put the entire acquisition/merger in doubt.
Follow Nextera Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE)
Follow Nextera Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE)
According to our database, the number of funds with holdings in NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) fell by three quarter-over-quarter to 35 as of the end of March. Meanwhile, esteemed quant fund Renaissance Technologies, founded by Jim Simons‘, owned around 871,000 shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) at the end of the first quarter.
Disclosure: None