Why Are Traders Piling Into These Five Stocks?

Although the Dow and S&P 500 are up by only 0.35%, the Nasdaq index is 0.8% in the green today. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at five NASDAQ stocks that are leading the way in terms of gains.

Those stocks are Cesca Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:KOOL), Merchants Bancshares,Inc. (NASDAQ:MBVT), DragonWave, Inc.(USA) (NASDAQ:DRWI), T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS), and Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIA). In addition to uncover why they’re moving, we’ll also use 13F data to see how hedge funds have traded the five stocks recently.

Our backtests that covered the period between 1999 and 2012, showed that following the 15 most popular small-caps among hedge funds can help a retail investor beat the market by an average of 95 basis points per month (see the details).

Despite there being no fundamental news concerning the stock today, nano-cap Cesca Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:KOOL) is 25% higher as technical traders buy for momentum reasons. Over 6 million shares of the normally thinly-traded stock have changed hands today, or over 60% of the float. A phase III trial assessing the company’s SurgWerks-CLI Kit and VXP System is expected to begin soon. As with all nano-caps, traders should exercise caution when considering any move. None of the funds that we track owned shares of Cesca Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:KOOL) at the end of June.

Merchants Bancshares,Inc. (NASDAQ:MBVT) shares have lifted by 30% after Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) agreed to buy it in a cash-and-stock deal for total consideration of around $304 million. According to the terms, shareholders of Merchants Banchsares will have the option to receive consideration per share equal to either 0.963 shares of Community Bank System common stock, $40.00 in cash, or the combination of 0.6741 shares of Community Bank System and $12.00 in cash, subject to an overall proration to 70% stock and 30% cash. Community Bank expects the deal to be around $0.10 per share accretive to 2018 GAAP earnings. Four funds in our system had a long position in Merchants Bancshares,Inc. (NASDAQ:MBVT) at the end of June, unchanged from the end of March.

On the next page we’ll examine why DragonWave, T-Mobile, and Acacia Communications are in surging.

Despite getting a noncompliance notice from the Nasdaq on Friday stating that DragonWave had failed to maintain the minimum of $2.5 million in shareholder equity, DragonWave, Inc.(USA) (NASDAQ:DRWI) is 5% higher as traders remain optimistic about the stock due to the October 19 announcement that DragonWave had won a microwave backhaul equipment contract from Sprint Corp (NYSE:S). Due to that contract win, DragonWave shares are considerably higher over the past week, which has likely convinced traders that the company has the option of going to the market to raise its shareholder equity above $2.5 million. The company had $1.662 million in shareholder equity at the end of August. DragonWave, Inc.(USA) (NASDAQ:DRWI) wasn’t in the portfolios of any of the hedge funds that we track at the end of the second quarter.

T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS) shares have risen by 7.5% today after the telecom reported third quarter earnings that were ahead of estimates. For the period, T-Mobile earned $0.27 per share, beating the Street’s estimate of $0.23. Revenue came in at $9.2 billion, up by 17.2% year-over-year, but missing the consensus mark by $220 million. Adjusted EBITDA jumped by 38% year-over-year to $2.63 billion, and the company reported 851,000 net branded postpaid phone adds and 684,000 branded prepaid net adds. T-Mobile expects EBITDA for the full-year to come in between $10.2 billion and $10.4 billion, a range well ahead of the Street’s estimate of $9.76 billion as well as being above its previous guidance range of $9.8 billion-to-$10.1 billion. 52 funds in our database were long T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS) at the end of June.

Last but not last, Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIA) shares are 3.5% in the green as sentiment around the stock firms up ahead of the release of the company’s third quarter earnings results, which is expected to occur on November 10 after the market close. Acacia pre-announced its third quarter results on October 4, which came in well ahead of estimates, as the company predicted EPS of $0.83-to-$0.90 for the quarter, while the consensus called for $0.73. Revenue was anticipated to be between $130 million and $133 million, with the consensus standing at $127.8 million. According to our records, six funds in our system were long Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIA) at the end of June. Those funds collectively owned around 5.2% of the company’s float at that time.

Disclosure: None