Why These Stocks Are in Spotlight Today?

Markets slid on Tuesday as investors started selling risky assets following China’s weaker than expected manufacturing data. Meanwhile, companies continue to post earnings reports. Among the major stocks in the spotlight because of their financial data today are American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP), Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE:MNK) and CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS). This article takes a look on the details of the earnings reports of these companies and examines hedge funds’ sentiment towards them.

At Insider Monkey, we track around 785 hedge funds and other institutional investors. Through extensive backtests, we have determined that imitating some of the stocks that these investors are collectively bullish on can help retail investors generate double digits of alpha per year (see more details about our small-cap strategy).

American International Group Misses Estimates

American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) reported first-quarter earnings of $0.65 a share on a revenue of $11.78 billion, missing the analysts’ estimates of $1 per share on $13.57 billion in revenue. The New York based insurance company suffered a quarterly loss of $183 million, most of which was the result of poor hedge funds and investment performance. The company is under pressure from various hedge funds to increase results from its core operations. Peter Hancock, American International Group’s CEO, said in a statement that the financial results were hit by market volatility on investments. Hancock added that the company made progress on its strategic objectives. General operating expenses were cut by 5% year-over-year. Overall, 101 hedge funds from our database held long positions worth of $10.9 billion in American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. Stephen J. Errico’s Locust Wood Capital Advisers has 641,068 shares of the company, according to its 13F filing for the end of March. Shares of American International Group have lost more than 2% so far today.

Pfizer Inc Beats Estimates

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) posted EPS of $0.67 for the first quarter, beating analysts’ expectations by $0.12. The pharmaceutical company’s revenue came in at $13.01 billion, up from the estimates of $12.02 billion, and representing a 20% increase from last year’s first quarter revenue of $10.86 billion. For the full year, the company expects its earnings to be in the range of $2.38 to $2.48 a share, versus the previous guidance of $2.20 to $2.30 per share. Pfizer experienced growth in the sales of its innovative products, which include vaccines and cancer treatment drugs. Last month, the company announced its plans to split its business into two separate entities: one dealing with core products and the other one comprising of innovative products. Out of the funds we track, 109 funds held positions with an aggregate worth of $8.6 billion in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is one of the most notable stakeholders in Pfizer, with an ownership of approximately 31.75 million shares, held as of the end of the first quarter.

On the next page, we will discuss earnings reports of Molson Coors Brewing Company, Mallinckrodt PLC and CVS Health Corp.

Molson Coors Brewing Company Posts Profit, Beats Estimates

Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP)’s stock has inched down by 0.11% after it posted a profit of $158.8 million for its first quarter of 2016, driven by beer volume growth, lower cost of goods sold and brand building. The Denver based brewer’s EPS in the first quarter was $0.54 on revenue of $657.2 million, higher than the estimated EPS of $0.43 on $627.65 million in revenue. Sales volume also inclined by 2.1% to 5.75 million hectoliters in the first quarter. Among the funds we track, 53 held stakes in Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) at the end of last year.

Mallinckrodt PLC Beats Q2 Estimates, Raises Full Year Guidance

Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE:MNK)’s stock has advanced by 6% after the company posted EPS of $2.01 on revenue of $918 million for the second fiscal quarter, surpassing the analysts’ estimates of $1.72 and $874 million, respectively. In a statement, Mark Trudeau, the CEO of the Dublin-based drug maker, said that the strategy of buying under-resourced assets for underserved patients in areas of high unmet medical needs is working. Mallinckrodt also raised its 2016 guidance for diluted earnings per share to the range of $8.15 to $8.50 from the previous $7.85 – $8.30 range. John Paulson’s Paulson & Co owned more than 8.6 million shares of Mallinckrodt PLC at the end of last year. Paulson is among the 39 funds from our database that had long positions in the company heading into 2016.

CVS Health Corp Beats Estimates

CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS)’s strong demand of its pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services drove its revenue and profit in the first quarter of 2016. The drugstore chain reported EPS of $1.18, better than the expected $1.16. Net revenue increased 19% on the year to $43.22 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $43 billion. Established store sales increased by 4.2% in the quarter. CVS Health’s business was also boosted because of its two major acquisitions in 2015. The company bought Omnicare for $10.4 billion and Target Corp.’s pharmacy business for $1.9 billion. Overall, 53 investors we track held shares of CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) at the end of the last year. As of March, Eric Sprott’s Sprott Asset Management owns 402,000 shares of the company.

Disclosure: None