Here’s Why These 4 Stocks Are Surging Today

Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is up by 1.46% in morning trading after gaming giant Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) announced that it will buy King Digital Entertainment PLC (NYSE:KING) for $5.9 billion, or $18 in cash per share. Although Zynga doesn’t have the same mobile presence as King Digital, it has plenty of hit games and a talented workforce that other gaming giants might be interested in. Many hedge funds are optimistic on Zynga, as 29 funds we track reported Zynga stakes worth $619.41 million as of the end of June.

CEO Mark Pincus has given no indication that he wants to sell the company, however. Zynga’s stock hasn’t done very well in the past year, with shares down by 10.15% year-to-date. Shares will likely remain weak until the company adjusts to mobile or comes up with another hit franchise.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) shares surged by 8.19% after the company pre-released some bullish third quarter financial numbers. For the quarter, comparable-store sales jumped by 9% year-over-year, while EPS came in at $0.34 per share, beating analyst estimates of $0.31 per share. Interim CEO Jay Schottenstein said:

In a highly challenging retail environment, we are extremely pleased to see our AE and Aerie brand customers respond positively to product and quality enhancements. We continue to experience greater full-priced selling and less promotional activity, resulting in profit margin expansion

American Eagle also announced that it will acquire Tailgate Clothing Company, a vintage sports-inspired apparel brand, for $11 million in cash and stock. 36 funds in our database reported long positions in American Eagle worth $429.01 million as of the end of June, with Joel Greenblatt‘s Gotham Asset Management among them, holding a stake of 2.15 million shares.

Disclosure: None