Trending Stocks: Second Sight, Energy Transfer Partners, Twitter, and More

The broader markets are down slightly after the latest consumer confidence numbers for the month of October missed expectations with a reading of 98.6 versus analyst expectations of 100.8.

Among some of the stocks that are making headlines today are Second Sight Medical Products Inc (NASDAQ:EYES), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP). Let’s examine why these stocks are in the spotlight today and assess the hedge fund sentiment towards them.

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Second Sight Medical Products Inc (NASDAQ:EYES) shareholders are seeing nothing but green today as the stock of the company has risen by 20% on the back of the news that doctors at UCLA have successfully implanted and activated a wireless visual cortical stimulator in a 30-year-old human subject. After the implantation, the patient was able to perceive and localize individual spots of light with no adverse side effects. According to Chairman Dr. Robert Greenberg:

“[…] the first human test confirms that we are on the right track with our Orion I program to treat blind patients who cannot benefit from the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis (Argus II). This initial success in a patient is an exciting and important milestone even though it does not yet include a camera.”

The implantation is considered a successful human proof of concept, and the company plans to submit an application to the FDA early next year to gain approval for conducting an intital clinical trial of the complete Orion 1 system, with glasses and a camera. Of the 749 funds we track, three funds owned $224,000 worth of Second Sight Medical Products Inc (NASDAQ:EYES)’s shares, which accounted for 0.20% of the float on June 30, versus four funds and $2.44 million, respectively, on March 31.

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares are down by 4.4% after Bloomberg reported that the company may lay off around 300 workers, or 8% of its workforce, to become more competitive. Although layoffs are normally cheered by the Street, Twitter is down because some traders think the layoffs mean that the social network might not beat Wall Street’s consensus estimates for the third and fourth quarters. A total of 30 funds tracked by us had a bullish position in Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) at the end of the second quarter, up by three funds from the previous quarter.

On the next page, we take a closer look at Yelp, Alphabet, and Energy Transfer Partners LP.Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) is in the red this afternoon after the Roth Capital analyst Darren Aftahi trimmed his price target on the stock to $27 from $29 and maintained his ‘Sell’ rating. Aftahi thinks Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s recent moves to expand its local features could mean trouble for Yelp and make the stock less attractive as an acquisition target. However, the analyst does conced that Yelp could continue its streak of out-performance in the third quarter. The smart money was pretty bullish on Yelp in the second quarter. According to our data, the number of funds with holdings in Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) rose by 12 quarter-over-quarter to 45 at the end of June.

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is trending after the research firm IHS Markit reported that the new Google Pixel XL phone’s manufacturing costs are relatively in-line with those of rivals. According to IHS, the total bill of material costs for the Pixel XL with 32 GB of memory costs $278. Throw in another $7.75 in manufacturing costs, and the total cost to make a Pixel XL is around $285.75. Given the Pixel’s un-subsidized face prize of $769, Alphabet’s gross margins are comparable with that of the iPhone 7 plus and Galaxy S7 Edge. If the Pixel becomes a hit, Alphabet’s profits could jump substantially. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) was a hedge fund favorite on June 30, as 126 top funds owned class C shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Last but not least, Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP) is in the spotlight after the midstream giant agreed to buy certain interests in PennTex Midstream Partners, LP from various parties for around $640 million, with 50% paid in cash and 50% paid in common units. Upon closing of the deal, Energy Transfer Partners will own 100% of the general partner of PennTex Midstream Partners, together with its IDRs, as well as 6.3 million common units and 20 million subordinated units of PennTex Midstream Partners. David Tepper‘s Appaloosa Management LP established a new position of 11.41 million shares of Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP). in the second quarter.

Disclosure: none