Equity investors in China are taking a flyer on a strategy that hasn’t worked in years, speculating small caps will soar on the country’s sweeping plans to invigorate its fastest-growing firms.
China’s three most popular exchange-traded funds in 2018 all track smaller stocks, luring some $3 billion in net new assets, data compiled by Bloomberg show. While that’s a tiny slice of the nation’s $7.4 trillion equity market, it’s nearly 60 percent of all the cash that’s gone into stock funds trading in Shanghai or Shenzhen, according to the data.
Small caps have borne the brunt of China’s deleveraging campaign since the 2015 stock bubble burst on concern they would struggle to cope with soaring funding costs. Though the ChiNext is once again down for the year, it’s holding up better than a gauge tracking blue chips, a small win after it largely missed out on a two-year global bull market.
“China’s push to encourage domestic listings of unicorn companies has triggered interest in small caps,” said Patrick Dai, head of A-share research at Macquarie Commodities and Global Markets Group in Shanghai. “Investors are positioning for a potential rally in new-economy sectors because those listings would boost market sentiment.”
Hot Blue Chip Stocks For 2019: The9 Limited(NCTY)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ethan Ryder]
Press coverage about The9 (NASDAQ:NCTY) has trended somewhat positive on Friday, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. Accern identifies negative and positive media coverage by analyzing more than twenty million blog and news sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. The9 earned a daily sentiment score of 0.07 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news articles about the technology company an impact score of 45.6853785900783 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near term.
Hot Blue Chip Stocks For 2019: Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc.(AIT)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Baldwin]
And with just a few smart plays in today's classic stock picker's market, you can pull in triple-digit gains with just a small investment.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Friday Ongoing geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on oil prices. The price of Brent crude sat just above $72.50 thanks to growing uncertainty around global trade policies and sluggish economic growth. A stronger U.S. dollar has put increasing pressure on oil prices at a time when Turkey, China, and India see weakness in their currencies. This morning, the International Energy Agency said that the oil market is on the verge of becoming "less calm." In a statement, the Paris-based energy said: ""As oil sanctions against Iran take effect, perhaps in combination with production problems elsewhere, maintaining global supply might be very challenging." As we noted this week, a lot of the top manufacturing countries have tightened their belts thanks to rising material costs. In this market, it's hard to know what company to buy and what stocks to sell. Of course, it's much, much easier to know what the best stocks are when you use the VQScore system. In fact, this system has just told us the name of the top-ranked stock in a trade war. You can read all about it, right here. Three Stocks to Watch Today: RUTH, NWSA, TSLA Shares of Ruth's Hospitality Group (Nasdaq: RUTH) will lead a very light day of earnings reports. Wall Street expects that the company will report EPS OF $0.30 on top of $11.72 million in revenue. Shares of News Corp. (NYSE: NSWA) ticked higher on news that the company beat profit and revenue expectations. The publisher of the Wall Street Journal reported EPS of $0.08, which beat Street estimates by two cents. The firm reported stronger revenue from real estate listings, its book publishing division, and stronger video subscriptions. Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) is back in the news as rumors about Elon Musk taking the firm private remain in focus. The company's board of direct - [By Max Byerly]
Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Co from $73.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Co’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.03% from the company’s current price.
- [By Shane Hupp]
Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 355,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,865 shares during the period. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $24,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Hot Blue Chip Stocks For 2019: DSP Group Inc.(DSPG)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Shane Hupp]
Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of DSP Group (NASDAQ:DSPG) in a report issued on Friday morning. The firm currently has a $15.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock.
- [By Max Byerly]
Shares of DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.75.
- [By Max Byerly]
AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO) and DSP Group (NASDAQ:DSPG) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, risk and valuation.
Hot Blue Chip Stocks For 2019: Smith & Nephew SNATS, Inc.(SNN)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Stephan Byrd]
Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390,356 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,951 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.09% of Smith & Nephew worth $14,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Losers Heat Biologics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTBX) shares tumbled 48.59 percent to close at $1.275 on Thursday after the company priced its $18,000,000 public offering. InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: NVIV) fell 38.77 percent to close at $8.26 on Thursday. Check-Cap Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHEK) shares tumbled 27.43 percent to close at $8.81. Achaogen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAO) dropped 24.76 percent to close at $11.06 in reaction to a disappointing update from an FDA AdCom panel. The FDA panel voted favorably for the company's Plazcomicin for treatment of adults with complicated urinary tract infections, but also voted against the therapy to be used as a treatment for bloodstream infections. Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIK) shares declined 24.68 percent to close at $34.80 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results. LSC Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LKSD) shares fell 24.22 percent to close at $12.64 following wider-than-expected Q1 loss. Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) fell 21.42 percent to close at $50.80 following downbeat quarterly profit. Horizon Global Corporation (NYSE: HZN) dropped 20.42 percent to close at $6.00 following downbeat quarterly earnings. Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE: HOS) slipped 20.11 percent to close at $2.90 following wider-than-expected Q1 loss. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPR) fell 19.28 percent to close at $36.93. Esperion Therapeutics stock lost roughly a third of its value Wednesday after the company reported mixed Phase III results for its leading drug candidate, bempedoic acid. JP Morgan downgraded Esperion Therapeutics from Neutral to Underweight. Laredo Petroleum, Inc. (NYSE: LPI) declined 17.77 percent to close at $8.98 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings. The Habit Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ: HABT) dipped 16.1 percent to close at $8.60 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results. Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (N - [By Benzinga News Desk]
Weight Watchers (NYSE: WTW) is tipping the scales on Wall Street: Link
ECONOMIC DATA USA Nonfarm Payrolls for Apr 164.0K vs 189.0K Est; Prior 103.0K. Private Payrolls for Apr 168.0K vs 194.0K Est; Prior 102.0K Unemployment Rate for Apr 3.90% vs 4.00% Est; Prior 4.10% New York Fed President William Dudley is set to speak at 12:45 p.m. ET. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET. Randal Quarles, Vice Chairman for Supervision, is set to speak at 5:30 p.m. ET. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will speak at 8:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 8:00 p.m. ET. Kansas City Fed President Esther George will speak at 8:00 p.m. ET. ANALYST RATINGS RBC upgraded Benefitfocus (NASDAQ: BNFT) from Sector Perform to Outperform Stephens upgraded FMC (NYSE: FMC) from Equal-Weight to Overweight RBC downgraded Colfax (NYSE: CFX) from Outperform to Sector Perform Deutsche Bank downgraded Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) from Hold to SellThis is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.
- [By Joseph Griffin]
Zimmer Biomet (NYSE: ZBH) and Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and profitability.
