Why Costco, Wells Fargo, Petrobras, Cabelas, and More Are Making Headlines

Despite crude prices stabilizing now that OPEC has agreed to limit/cut production, many investors are on edge given the uncertainties in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

Among the stocks in the spotlight on the last day of the third quarter are Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ:CAMP), Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (ADR) (NYSE:PBR), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), and Cabelas Inc (NYSE:CAB). Let’s analyze why each company is trending and see what the smart money thinks of each of the five stocks.

At Insider Monkey, we track over 750 hedge funds, whose quarterly 13F filings we analyze and determine their collective sentiment towards several thousand stocks. However, our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) shares are nearly 4% in the green this morning after the retailer reported earnings of $1.77 per share for its fiscal year 2016 fourth quarter, beating the Street’s estimate by $0.04. Revenue for the period was $35.73 billion, up by 2.1% year-over-year and $1.08 billion below the consensus estimate. Although revenue missed expectations, analysts took solace in the company’s ex-gas, ex-forex comparable-store sales increase of around 3% for the fiscal quarter. Of the 749 top funds that we track which filed 13Fs for the June reporting period, 39 of them had a long position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) at the end of the second quarter, down by four funds from the end of the first quarter.

CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ:CAMP) is 14% in the red after reporting disappointing fiscal 2017 second quarter earnings. Although the company’s bottom-line of $0.27 per share met the average analyst estimate, CalAmp’s top-line of $90.5 million missed the Street’s estimate by $1.76 million. Sales rose by 9.6% year-over-year, while consolidated gross margin came in at 42%. Due to tough macro conditions, CalAmp’s management was cautious in terms of guidance for the very near term, with expectations of adjusted EBITDA of $11 million-to-$14 million and adjusted net income of $0.24-to-$0.30 per share for its fiscal third quarter. The number of funds in our database with holdings in CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ:CAMP) rose by two during the second quarter to 17 at the end of June.

On the next page, we’ll examine why Petrobras, Wells Fargo, and Cabelas are in the spotlight.