Facebook, Google, and More: Why Investors Are Buzzing About These 5 Stocks

All three indexes are in the red today as traders again take profits off the table from the market’s run-up over the past few months after the fears concerning Britain’s decision to exit the EU subsided.

Among the stocks investors are talking about today are several tech companies and two grocers/retail stores. Let’s dive in and analyze the events affecting Kroger Co (NYSE:KR), PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) and use the latest SEC filings to see how many of the smart money investors that we follow have added each stock to their portfolios.

Hedge fund sentiment is an important metric for assessing the long-term profitability. At Insider Monkey, we track over 750 hedge funds, whose quarterly 13F filings we analyze and determine their collective sentiment towards several thousand stocks. However, our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) is in the spotlight after the grocer reported mixed earnings for its fiscal second quarter. Although the company’s earnings of $0.47 per share came in $0.02 ahead of expectations, Kroger’s revenue of $26.57 billion missed by $220 million. Sales rose by 4% year-over-year (and were up by 7.3% when excluding fuel) as identical supermarket sales excluding fuel inched up by 1.7%. Kroger’s management anticipates adjusted EPS coming in at between $2.10 and $2.20 for the full fiscal year. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies established a new stake of over 2 million shares in Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) between March 31 and June 30. Shares of the company are 1.79% in the red this morning.

Traders are talking about PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) today after the company announced its sales data for the month of August. For the period, PriceSmart’s net sales inched lower by 1.5% year-over-year to $229.1 million, while comparable-warehouse sales for the six weeks ended September 4 at its 36 warehouse clubs open for at least 13-and-a-half months inched lower by 1.5% as well. PriceSmart plans to release its fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016 results on October 27 after the market close. The number of funds in our database with holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) rose by two quarter-over-quarter to seven at the end of June.

On the next page, we’ll take a look at why Facebook, Alphabet, and AMD are trending this morning.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is on the watchlist of many traders today after Goldman Sachs added the tech giant to its ‘Focus’ list. The investment bank likes how the social networking company is an “asset-light disruptor” with a huge user base and strong mobile engagement that should power the company’s growth for years to come. Around 30% of all mobile internet use time in the U.S. is on Facebook or its related apps. Goldman Sachs has a $162 price target on Facebook according to Marketbeat, $32 above shares’ current price. 148 funds that we track owned shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) at the end of June, down by 16 from the end of March.

Only a short time after the FAA paved the way for feasible commercial drone delivery in the United States, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is testing the waters by test-trialing Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) burrito deliveries to Virginia Tech. One of Alphabet’s drones will carry burritos from a Chipotle food truck and fly them to a person who will then hand out the burritos to the customers who ordered them. If successful, many investors believe that Alphabet will eventually expand the scope of its drone activities. 187 hedge funds had a long position in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s class A or class C shares (or both) on June 30, making it the most popular stock among the hedge funds in our system.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is trending after pricing its secondary offering. According to the terms, AMD will sell $600 million worth of common stock for $6 per share, and will also grant underwriters an expiring option to buy an additional 15 million shares at the same price. AMD has also increased its convertible note offering to $700 million from the original $450 million. AMD intends to use the net proceeds to repay debt. 25 funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) as of the most recent 13F reporting period, up by 12 funds quarter-over-quarter.

Disclosure: None