These Three Companies Missed Estimates but See What Hedge Funds Think about Them Before Jumping to Conclusions

Meanwhile, Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND)’s fell by over 4% decline after the markets closed, on the back of mixed results for the last quarter. For its fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, the firm announced adjusted earnings of $7.2 million, or $0.23 per share and net sales of $201.81 million. Earnings were above the consensus estimate of $0.22 per share, while sales, down by 7.9% on the year, were below expectations of $205.4 million. For the full fiscal year of 2015, net sales remained flat at $864.2 million, while adjusted earnings went up by an annual 71.9% to $34.7 million, or $1.10 per share. For fiscal 2016, the company expects annual adjusted EBITDA in the range of $131 million to $136 million and adjusted EPS between $1.21 and $1.32.

Hedge funds were similarly positive on Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) during the second quarter. At the end of the period, there were 17 hedge funds owning stakes worth $230.7 million, equal to 23.40% of the company’s outstanding stock. The value of positions increased by 4.69% on the quarter, amid a 3.65% decline of the stock. Howard Marks’ Oaktree Capital Management held 4.42 million shares of Diamond Foods at the end of the second quarter.

Landec Corporation (NASDAQ:LNDC) shares briefly had reached over 16% in red, before the loss was pared to under 1% in after-hours trading after the firm also reported results, missing on both the top and bottom lines for the first quarter of its fiscal 2016. The company’s adjusted earnings amounted to $2.99 million, or $0.11 per share, up from $2.42 million ($0.09 per share) in the year-ago quarter. Product sales were $135.36 million, up from $133.61 million last year. These were below consensus estimates of $0.13 in earnings per share and revenue of $141.5 million. Landec also reaffirmed its expectation of sales increasing in the range of 7% to 9%, below the growth estimate of 8.5%.

Unlike Barracuda Networks and Diamond Foods, Landec Corporation (NASDAQ:LNDC) was much less popular among hedge funds in the second quarter. The number of investors long Landec was unchanged during the second quarter at eight. The value of their holdings inched down by 0.64% to $79.48 million, representing 20.40% of the company, despite a 3.44% climb of the stock. Nelson Obus’ Wynnefield Capital owned 2.65 million shares of Landec at the end of June.

Disclosure: None