Why Are These Four Stocks in the Spotlight Today?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s shares are moderately lower after the bell as investors wonder whether the company can sustain its iPhone growth trajectory for much longer. Yesterday, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty wrote that she thought Apple’s 2016 calendar year iPhone sales will decline 3% year-over-year given the smartphone saturation in wealthier countries. Seeing as the iPhone makes up around two-third’s of Apple’s profits, Huberty also thinks Apple’s CY 2016 EPS will retreat 6%. Today, Apple supplier Dialog Semiconductor lowered guidance for its December quarter to $390-$400 million from previous guidance of $430-$460 million. Investors worry the weaker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier revenues will lead to weaker Apple earnings results.

Nevertheless, plenty of hedge funds are bullish on Apple, with Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital LP and David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital among the 133 elite funds long the stock at the end of the third quarter.

Completing our list of trending stocks is 3M Co (NYSE:MMM), whose shares are off by around 4%after the company cut its fiscal 2015 EPS guidance to $7.55 from the previous range of $7.60 to $7.65 due to a weak global economy. 3M sees fiscal 2016 EPS coming in at between $8.10 and $8.45. However, at a forward P/E of 18, 3M Co (NYSE:MMM) may still be a good long term holding. A total of 42 funds from our database owned $1.91 billion worth of 3M Co shares at the end of September with Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management among them.

Disclosure: none