Why Violin Memory Inc (VMEM)’s Stock Plunged Today?

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Nano-cap Violin Memory Inc (NYSE:VMEM) reported a fiscal first quarter loss of $0.16 per share on revenue of $9.7 million, beating the bottom-line estimate by one cent but missing the top line by $1.8 million. Total sales contracted 19.8% year-over-year, as product sales fell 39% to $4.16 million and service sales rose 5.3% to $5.56 million. The company ended the quarter with cash, restricted cash, and investments of less than one year in duration of $49.2 million at the end of the first quarter. Violin Memory Inc (NYSE:VMEM) has no debt. The company needs to stop the cash burn and losses to do well. Despite the small size, Violin Memory managed to capture the attention of several hedge funds, although its popularity inched down during the first quarter, according to the latest round of 13F filings.

 

Follow Violin Memory Inc (NYSE:VMEM)

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Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the latest action encompassing Violin Memory Inc (NYSE:VMEM).

Heading into the second quarter of 2016, a total of seven of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, down by one from the fourth quarter of 2015. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, billionaire George Soros’ Soros Fund Management holds the largest position in Violin Memory Inc (NYSE:VMEM). Soros Fund Management has a $8.8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. On Soros Fund Management’s heels is Andalusian Capital Partners, managed by Michael Reeber, which holds a $4.2 million position; 3.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism contain Matthew Knauer and Mina Faltas’s Nokota Management, George Hall’s Clinton Group and Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies.

On the next page, we are going to take a look at some funds that dumped their stakes in Violin Memory heading into the second quarter. In addition, we are going to compare the company to some other stocks with a similar valuation in order to get a better sense of its popularity among hedge funds.

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