Fresh Earnings Reports Have Investors Jabbering About These 5 Stocks

U.S. futures are up this morning following the release of the Labor Department’s jobs report, which did not disappoint in the slightest, as the U.S. economy created 255,000 jobs in July, easily surpassing expectations of 180,000 jobs. Unemployment stayed put at 4.9%.

While investors were awaiting that news, they were also pouring over the earnings released by dozens of companies after the market close yesterday. In this article we’ll take a look at five of those companies, Motorola, Activision Blizzard, Post Holdings, Priceline, and Symantec, and see how the market has reacted to their results. We’ll also use SEC filings to see how top hedge funds have been trading them.

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Solid Quarter For Motorola Solutions

Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI) reported second quarter financial results that exceeded expectations yesterday. The company posted a 4.5% increase in revenue to $1.43 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $0.90 per share in earnings and $1.39 billion in revenue. For the current quarter, the company said it expects revenue growth of 6%-to-7% and earnings in the range of $1.17-to-$1.22 per share. Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI)’s Board of Directors has also approved the buyback of an additional $2 billion worth of its shares. The company is all that remains from Motorola Inc., the wireless communications manufacturer that has been disassembled over the past several years and is now acting mainly as a provider of public-safety systems and services.

Hedge fund sentiment towards Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI) improved significantly over the course of the first quarter, as the number of funds with long bets on the stock reached 32 at the end of March, from 22 registered a quarter before.

Earnings Beat for Post Holdings

Solid fiscal third quarter performance has investors talking about Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) this morning. The packaged foods company reported profit of $3.3 million or $0.62 per share for the quarter, when adjusted for one-time gains and costs, topping analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.47 per share. Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) also reported $1.25 billion in revenue, up by 3.3% year-over-year.

At the end of March, roughly 30% of Post Holdings’ common stock was held by 34 hedge funds in our system, up from 31 at the end of December. Billionaire John Paulson was among those holding a stake in Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST), as his fund Paulson & Co indicated ownership of 3.68 million shares of the company in its 13F filing for the period.

Turn the page to find out why investors are buzzing about the remaining three stocks.