Herbalife (HLF) Twists The Knife A Little More in Ackman, While Godaddy (GDDY), Tripadvisor (TRIP), and 2 Others Report Earnings

The markets appear to be strong this morning after the Bank of England announced an interest rate cut and aggressive stimulus measures to prop up the British economy after its late-June Brexit.

Meanwhile, some important stocks are grabbing investors’ attention today, including Godaddy Inc (NYSE:GDDY), Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS), and Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET). Let’s find out why these stocks are in the spotlight today and see what the collection of smart money investors tracked by Insider Monkey think of them.

At Insider Monkey, we track more than 765 hedge funds, whose 13F filings we analyze as part of our small-cap strategy. Our research has shown that imitating a portfolio that includes the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds can outperform the market by as much as 95 basis points per month on average (see more details here).

Godaddy Beats Revenue Estimates, Gets New CFO and COO

Investors are buzzing about Godaddy Inc (NYSE:GDDY), which is 8% in the green this morning after the company posted its second quarter results yesterday after the market close. The web hosting company’s customers surged by 7.9% to 14.3 million by the end of the quarter, while revenue shot up by 16% to $456.2 million, above analysts’ projection of $450.51 million. The company reported a net loss of $8.9 million, or $0.11 per share for the quarter, better than last year’s second quarter loss of $29.8 million, but missing the expected $0.07 per share loss. For the full year, Godaddy expects revenue in the range of $1.840 billion-to-1.847 billion, while the consensus is calling for $1.840 billion. The company also announced the appointment of Ray Winborne as its new CFO, while Scott Wagner has been promoted to the roles of President and Chief Operating Officer. A total of 22 hedge funds in our database were long Godaddy Inc (NYSE:GDDY) at the end of the first quarter. Jim Davidson, Dave Roux and Glenn Hutchins’ Silver Lake Partners owns more than 36.73 million shares of the company as of March 31.

Tripadvisor Misses Estimates

Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) is heading in the opposite direction of Godaddy, being 8% in the red after it posted second quarter EPS of $0.38, beneath analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.42, while revenue of $391 million was also well below the projections of $402.56 million. The Massachusetts-based online travel services company is facing tough competition from rivals like Kayak and Airbnb. In a statement, Tripadvisor’s Steve Kaufer reassured investors that the company is on the right track as it focuses on the “long game” by investing in advertising, marketing and mobile. 40 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were shareholders of Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) at the end of the first quarter, up from 32 funds a quarter earlier.

On the next page we’ll run through the latest results out of Herbalife, Oasis Petroleum, and Metlife. 

Herbalife Tops Q2 Estimates

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) is 2.71% in the green this morning after the company posted a second quarter net loss of $22.9 million, compared to net income of $82.8 million for the same quarter of last year. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.29 per share, better than analysts’ forecast of $1.21, while revenue of $1.20 billion topped the consensus of $1.19 billion. For the full year, the company now expects to earn $4.50-to-$4.80 per share, up from the prior guidance of $4.40-to-$4.75. Last month, Herbalife agreed to pay $200 million to settle a long-running FTC probe spurred by billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who has accused the nutrition company of running a pyramid scheme. The Federal Trade Commission ordered Herbalife to restructure its business operations, but did not go so far as to call it a pyramid scheme, a victory for the company. Out of the 766 actively-filing hedge funds in our database, 37 were long Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) at the end of March.

Oasis Petroleum Beats Estimates

Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS)’s stock has surged by more than 4% after the company powered past second quarter earnings estimate. The Texas-based oil and gas company posted an adjusted loss of $0.11 per share, better than the expected $0.15 per share loss. However, $179 million in revenue fell short of analysts’ projection of $185.28 million. The company upped its full year production estimate to 48,500-to-49,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day. John H. Scully’s SPO Advisory Corp had amassed approximately 19.91 million shares of Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) as of the end of the first quarter.

Metlife Plunges After Q2 Miss

Shares of Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET) have lost some 3.66% today after the company revealed that its profit in the second quarter nosedived by about 90%, as CEO Steve Kandarian plans to shut down its variable-annuity business due to unsatisfactory cash generation. Mr. Kandarian’s aim is to focus on the company’s international operations and U.S. offerings. Overall, the insurance company reported EPS of $0.83 on $17.00 billion in revenue, behind the consensus estimates of $1.35 in EPS on $17.26 billion in revenue. Metlife, like several other insurance companies, is facing the heat after a decline in U.S. Treasury yields, especially after the Brexit vote. 50 hedge funds in our system were owned shares of Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET) at the end of March, up from 41 funds a quarter earlier.

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