Here’s Why Apple, Alcoa, Twilio, and Two Other Stocks Are Trending Today

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Markets are trading in the red today amid tumbling oil prices and a bearish start of the earnings season.

However, some of the stocks are gaining special attention today, including Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO). Let’s find out why these stocks are in the spotlight and assess what smart money investors from our database think about them.

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Alcoa Misses Estimates

Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA)’s stock is almost 10% in the red after the company reported third-quarter EPS of $0.32 on revenue of $5.21 billion, worse than the analysts’ estimates of $0.34 in EPS and $5.33 billion in revenue. For 2016, Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) now expects global aluminum deficit of 615,000 metric tons, with 5% demand growth and 3% supply growth. The engineering and manufacturing company sees full year aircraft deliveries to be flat to up 3%. In the fourth quarter, Alcoa expects potential asset sales of approximately $250 million. The company is set to split its legacy metal-producing businesses from value-added parts operations on November 1. In a statement, Alcoa’s CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said the company showed “resilience” despite of the market challenges.  A total of 38 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) at the end of the second quarter.

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ConAgra Foods Announces Buyback Allowance Increase, Date for Spinoff

ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG)’s stock is in the spotlight today after the company announced a share buyback allowance increase and a distribution date for the spin-off of its Lamb Weston business. The Nebraska-based packaged food company has set November 9 as the distribution date for spinning-off Lamb Weston business, whereas the record date is November 1. The company’s shareholders will receive 100% of the common shares of Lamb Weston following the spin-off. ConAgra Foods’ board of directors also approved to increase the existing share buyback program to $1.25 billion. However, the new program is dependent on the spinoff of the Lamb Weston business. The company said in a statement that the authorization is part of a capital allocation strategy to balances debt reduction, dividends, share repurchases and growth investments. Barry Rosenstein’s  JANA Partners is one of the biggest stakeholders of ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) with over 18 million shares of the company as of the end of June.

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On the next page, we will discuss the other three stocks that are gaining attention today.

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