Why These 5 Stocks Are Surging Today: Rovi, Cheetah Mobile, StemCells, More

It’s a relatively quiet day on Wall Street as all three indexes are close to break-even.

Among the stocks gaining ground on Monday are Lantronix Inc (NASDAQ:LTRX), Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI), Cheetah Mobile Inc (ADR) (NYSE:CMCM), StemCells Inc (NASDAQ:STEM), and Momo Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:MOMO). Let’s find out why traders are buying each stock and use the latest 13F data to see how the world’s best investors are positioned in them.

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Wall Street Bull

Lantronix Spikes on Program

Nano-cap Lantronix Inc (NASDAQ:LTRX) is 20% in the green today after the company announced a new premier partner program for ITM resellers. The premier partner program provides discounts and incentives for resellers that might “aggressively expand access to our industry-leading SLC 8000 solution in the marketplace,” according to CEO Jeff Benck. Given the nano-cap nature of Lantronix Inc (NASDAQ:LTRX), only three funds out of the 749 funds in our system that filed 13F’s for the June 30 reporting period, held a stake in the company at that time. As with all nano-caps, investors should exercise due-diligence before buying or selling its shares.

Rovi Up on Agreement

Investors have bid up Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI) shares to the tune of 7% today after Rovi signed a 10-year patent renewal license agreement with a subsidiary of DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH). The renewal validates the long-term value of Rovi’s IP portfolio with traditional and next-generation pay-TV providers and provides Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI) with more predictable cash flow for future years. The number of funds in our database with stakes in Rovi inched lower by two quarter-over-quarter to 22 at the end of June.

On the next page we’ll examine why Cheetah Mobile, StemCells, and Momo Inc are trading in the green today.

Cheetah Showing Momentum

Cheetah Mobile Inc (ADR) (NYSE:CMCM) has surged by 4% today despite some bearish commentary from analysts at Morgan Stanley, who have an ‘Underweight’ rating and a $9 price target on the stock, due to the company’s high cost structure and lower anticipated margins. Traders are likely buying Cheetah due to the company’s strong third quarter guidance, with management anticipating third quarter revenue of $166 million-to-$173 million, and due to technical momentum buying. Six funds that we track were long Cheetah Mobile Inc (ADR) (NYSE:CMCM) as of the most recent 13F reporting period.

Nano-Cap Remains Volatile

StemCells Inc (NASDAQ:STEM) is 43% in the green today as the stock remains volatile due to its nano-cap nature and low float. StemCells shares surged by almost 7-fold on August 16 when the company announced that it would merge with Microbot Medical Ltd, with plans to pursue the development of robotics-based medical devices for the treatment of various conditions. Because the financial terms were not disclosed, StemCells Inc (NASDAQ:STEM) shares have faded from that initial spike, with the exception of occasional spikes such as today’s. Given the unpredictable and volatile nature of the stock, traders should exercise caution before buying or selling its shares.

Technical Trading Detected at Momo

Although there isn’t any fundamental news concerning Momo Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:MOMO) today, shares of the Chinese chat app are nevertheless up by 7% in afternoon trading, most likely due to technical reasons. Seeing as how the Shanghai index has stabilized in recent months and given that some big Chinese tech start-ups are IPO’ing in Hong Kong, valuations for Chinese tech companies could conceivably trend higher if the market plays ball (at least in some speculator’s eyes). It was announced late last week that a buyout offer for Momo from a consortium of investors had been withdrawn. Nine funds in our system owned shares of Momo Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:MOMO) at the end of June, down by one fund from the end of March.

Disclosure: None