What’s the Deal With These 4 Plunging Stocks?

Harmonic Inc (NASDAQ:HLIT) shares have fallen by another 3.56% in mid-day trading as investors remain bearish following the company’s announcement that it will buy Thomson Video Networks for $75 million. Thomson Video Networks is a French pay-TV video infrastructure provider and Harmonic Inc (NASDAQ:HLIT) will finance the acquisition with a $125 million convertible offering. Hedge fund sentiment in the stock has been stagnant, with the number of hedge funds long Harmonic remaining unchanged at 11 during the third quarter. Because of today’s fall, Harmonic shares are down by almost 40% year-to-date.

Last but not least, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares are down by 2% in mid-day trading after Bloomberg reported that the company has suspended its plan to offer online TV service, in a move that would have accelerated cord cutting. Apple was originally planning to offer around 14 channels for $30-to-$40 per month, but ran into resistance from media companies who understandably wanted more of the pie for their programming. Apple instead will try to help companies sell their content on Apple’s App Store. CBS CEO Les Moonves still expects Apple to eventually offer a live online TV service, however. At a press conference yesterday, Moonves said:

“This will happen. It has four major networks and 10 cable networks, let’s say, and the price point will be in the $30s, $30 to $35, $40 maybe. People will not be spending money on channels they don’t want to watch.”

133 funds in our database were long Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of Q3, making Apple a top-5 smart money holding.

Disclosure: None