Why Are These Five Stocks on the Move Today?

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Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) fell more than 11% in morning trading after the company reported third quarter EPS of $1.95 on revenue of $2.3 billion (up 0.4% year-over-year), missing estimates by $0.14 per share and $30 million, respectively. Comparable stores sales rose 0.5% year-over-year and gross profit margin was 45%, down slightly from third quarter 2014’s gross profit margin of 45.2%. The company also announced CEO Darren Jackson will retire on January 2, 2016.

In better news, the company will add two independent directors to its board, including hedge fund activist Jeffrey Smith. Smith believes Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) is substantially undervalued because it isn’t run as well as it should. Smith notes that similar competitors Autozone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) and O’Reilly Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:ORLY) have operating margins of around 20%, while Advance Auto Parts has operating margins of 12%. He believes Advance Auto Parts’ operating margins could be just as high as its competitors if management’s execution improves, non-core assets are monetized, and some working capital comes out of the business. Smith has a price target of $360 per share.

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On a brighter note, MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) shares surged by over 23% on Thursday after the company confirmed a planned stock sale on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on November 15. MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) plans to sell as many as 50 million shares on the exchange to buy the company more time to turn around its poor Afrezza sales. Shares of the company are off by more than 50% year-to-date as sales of the inhaled insulin product have not met expectations.

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Last but not least, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) touched a fresh 52-week low today as management’s more impromptu conference call on Tuesday failed to improve sentiment. Investors are still uncertain about Valeant’s relationship with the specialty pharmacy Philidor, and even the bulls such as Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square acknowledge that it could be some time before Valeant shares recover from the debacle. Hurting matters is the news that Valeant and Ackman must face an insider trading lawsuit over the company’s Allergan bid in 2014.

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Disclosure: none

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