Here’s Why Investors Are Buzzing about Netflix, Celanese, and Three Other Stocks

Although the market’s volatility might not show it, the earnings season is in full swing.

In this article, we will examine the latest quarterly results of five companies, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBS), Access National Corporation (NASDAQ:ANCX), Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE), and IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX). We will also take a look at the data from the previous round of 13F filings to see what the smart money investors from our database think about the companies in question.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, the hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor to beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares opened nearly 18% in the green after the company delivered an excellent third quarter.The internet streamer earned $0.12 per share on sales of $2.3 billion, beating the Street’s estimates of $0.05 per share on revenue of $2.28 billion. Sales advanced by 32.2% year-over-year, powered by an ASP jump of 10% year-over-year and a gain of 370,000 net domestic subscribers, and 3.2 million net international subscribers. Analysts were expecting an addition of just 300,000 subscribers for the U.S. and 2 million internationally. In addition to solid third-quarter results, guidance for the fourth quarter is ahead of analyst estimates, as  Netflix’s management expects a net gain of 1.45 million domestic subscribers and 3.75 million international subscribers for the fourth quarter. Christopher Lord‘s Criterion Capital raised its stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) by 242% to almost 1.0 million shares during the second quarter.

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBS) is in the spotlight after reporting third quarter earnings of $0.78 per share, $0.07 better than the Street’s estimates. Revenue of $52.7 million also is $0.71 million ahead of estimates, and up by 15.4% year-over-year. Loans inched up 10% and deposits jumped by 36% on the year in the third quarter. Return on average assets was a respectable 1.39% and return on average equity was 16.66%, versus 1.38% and 15.52%, respectively, for the third quarter of 2015. Tangible book value per share was $18.73 per share, up from $15.96 per share in the same period last year. Of the 749 funds we track, five funds held $12.09 million worth of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBS)’s stock, which accounted for 0.90% of the float on June 30, versus eight funds and $29.14 million, respectively, a quarter earlier.

On the next page, we will take a closer look at the earnings reported by Access National Corporation, Celanese Corporation, and IDEX Corporation.
Access National Corporation (NASDAQ:ANCX) is trending after reporting third-quarter earnings of $0.41 per share on net interest income of $11.14 million, which are $0.03 and $0.43 million better than the average estimates. Sales gained 10.3% year-over-year and book value per common share rose to $11.44 at the end of September 2016 from $10.23 in the comparable period of the last year. Net interest margin inched lower to 3.49% from 3.7% year-over-year. Two funds from our database were long Access National Corporation (NASDAQ:ANCX) at the end of June, unchanged from the previous quarter.

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) is in the green after the company reported earnings for the third quarter ahead of the Street’s estimates. During the three months, Celanese earned $1.67 per share, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 per share, while sales of $1.32 billion, were $60 million below the expectations and down by 6.4% year-over-year. The earnings beat was due to the management’s focus on productivity and impressive results in the company’s Materials Solutions and Acetyl Chain segments. Celanese expects to deliver adjusted EPS growth of 8% to 10% for the full 2016. A total of 33 funds tracked by us were long Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) at the end of the second quarter, unchanged from the end of March.

Traders are keeping an eye on IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) after the company reported earnings of $0.92 per share on sales of $530.36 million for its third quarter. The company’s bottom line was in line with expectations, but the revenue was lower than the consensus estimate by $6.73 million. The company’s sales appreciated by 5.3% year-over-year, but declined by 2% organically. Orders, on the other hand, were up by 9% year-over-year and up by 2% organically. Cash from operations amounted to $125 million and free cash flow for the period was $114 million. Gross margin inched lower by 80 basis points to 43.5%. A total of 14 funds from our database were long IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) at the end of the second quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter.

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