Paul Singer's Elliott Management disclosed in an SEC filing its holdings as of September 30, 2018. Elliott's 21 new buys during the third quarter included, by size of position, FirstEnergy (FE), Nielsen (NLSN), Sabre Corp (SABR), and Community Health Systems (CYH). Elliott exited three positions during the quarter, including by size of previous position, Investors Bancorp (ISBC) and Wipro (WIT). Elliott increased its stake in seven holdings, including by size of previous position, Sempra (SRE), Devon Energy (DVN), Hess (HES), and QEP Resources (QEP). Elliott reduced its stake in nine holdings, including by size of previous position, NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Peabody Energy (BTU), CDK Global (CDK), and Imperva (IMPV). Elliott's top holdings as of September 30, 2018, in order of size, were Hess, Sempra, Arconic (ARNC), Peabody, and FirstEnergy.
George Soros' Soros Fund Management disclosed in an SEC filing its holdings as of September 30, 2018. Soros' 50 new buys during the third quarter included, by size of position, Tribune Media (TRCO), Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Disney (DIS), Kraft Heinz (KHC), and Mondelez (MDLZ). Soros exited 60 positions during the quarter, including by size of previous position, NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Rockwell Collins (COL), ServiceNow (NOW), Electronic Arts (EA), and Sigma Designs (SIGM). Soros increased its stake in 20 holdings, including by size of previous position, Microsoft (MSFT), Intelsat (I), Express Scripts (ESRX), SVB Financial (SIVB), and Coupa Software (COUP). Soros reduced its stake in 68 holdings, including by size of previous position, Spotify (SPOT), Netflix (NFLX), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Bank of America (BAC). Soros' top holdings as of September 30, 2018, in order of size, were Liberty Broadband (LBRDK), Vici Properties (VICI), Intelsat, Aetna (AET), and Tribune Media.
Tiger Management disclosed in an SEC filing its holdings as of September 30, 2018. Tiger's 20 new buys during the third quarter included PagSeguro Digital (PAGS) and a number of ETFs. Tiger exited 22 positions during the quarter, including by size of previous position, New Oriental Education (EDU), Redfin (RDFN), Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA), Amazon (AMZN), and Mondelez (MDLZ). Tiger increased its stake in 18 holdings, including by size of previous position, Alibaba (BABA), Cisco (CSCO), Microsoft (MSFT), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), and Blackstone Group (BX). Tiger reduced its stake in 11 holdings, including by size of previous position, Boot Barn (BOOT), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Spotify (SPOT), Royal Caribbean (RCL), and Delta (DAL). Tiger's top holdings as of September 30, 2018, in order of size, were Microsoft, Alibaba, Blackstone, Adobe (ADBE), and Alphabet (GOOG).
John Paulson's Paulson & Co. disclosed in a regulatory filing its holdings as of September 30, 2018. Paulson made nine new buys during the third quarter, including, by size of position, Nielsen Holdings (NLSN), Dun & Bradstreet (DNB), Pandora Media (P), CME Group (CME) and BrightSphere Investment Group (BSIG). The fund exited eight positions during the quarter, including by size of previous position, Vistra Energy (VST), Energen (EGN), CenturyLink (CTL), Comcast (CMCSA) and Hain Celestial (HAIN). Paulson increased its stake in six holdings, including by size, Discovery (DISCA), Shire (SHPG), Aetna (AET), Randgold Resources (GOLD) and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI). The fund reduced its stake in 13 holdings, including by size T-Mobile (TMUS), Akorn (AKRX), Mitel Networks (MITL), Mallinckrodt (MNK) and Allergan (AGN). Paulson & Co.'s top holdings as of September 30, in order of size, were Bausch Health (BHC), Shire, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), Mylan (MYL) and Discovery.
Third Point disclosed in an SEC filing its holdings as of September 30, 2018. Third Point's seven new buys during the quarter included, by size of position, American Express (AXP), Merck (MRK), Shire (SHPG), Iqvia (IQV), and Diamondback Energy (FANG). The fund exited thirteen positions during the quarter, including by size of previous position NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Facebook Class A (FB), Vulcan Materials (VMC), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), and Electronic Arts (EA). Third Point increased its stake in ten holdings, including by size of previous position Campbell Soup (CPB), Microsoft (MSFT), United Technologies (UTX), Constellation Brands Class A (STZ), and Adobe (ADBE). The fund reduced its stake in six holdings, including by size of previous position Netflix (NFLX), Lennar Class A (LEN), S&P Global (SPGI), PayPal (PYPL), and Salesforce.com (CRM). Third Point's top holdings as of September 30, 2018, in order of size, were Baxter (BAX), United Technologies, PayPal, Alibaba (BABA), and Campbell Soup.
Qualcomm (QCOM) is scheduled to report results of its fourth fiscal quarter after the market close on November 7, with a conference call scheduled for 4:45 pm ET. What to watch for: 1. Q4 EPS, REVENUE CONSENSUS HIGHER: Along with its last report, Qualcomm guided for Q4 adjusted earnings per share of 75c-85c on revenue of $5.1B-$5.9B. At the time, analysts were expecting the company to report Q4 EPS of 76c on revenue of $5.44B, but those figures have since risen to 83c and $5.52B, respectively. 2. NXP DEAL TERMINATION: Around the same time as its last report, Qualcomm said it would terminate its deal to acquire NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) when it expired at the end of the day. The following day, Qualcomm officially announced that the agreement was terminated and that NXP would receive a $2B termination compensation fee from the company. At that time, Qualcomm added that its board had authorized a stock repurchase program of $30B, replacing the company's existing $10B authorization. 3. ACCELERATED SHARE REPURCHASE: On September 13, Qualcomm said it had entered into accelerated share repurchase agreements with each of Bank of America, N.A., Citibank, N.A. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC to repurchase an aggregate of $16B of Qualcomm's common stock, with an initial delivery to Qualcomm of approximately 178M shares in the aggregate. Quaclomm said at the time that it was funding the accelerated buyback with existing cash resources. 4. APPLE DISPUTE: Qualcomm's ongoing patent dispute with Apple (AAPL) continued over the quarter. Bloomberg reported on September 17 that Apple said the U.S. International Trade Commission staff recommended the judge in their patent case find that there is no violation of three Qualcomm patents. A week and a half later, Bloomberg reported that ITC judge Thomas Pender ruled that Apple infringed one of three Qualcomm patents, but said it would be against the public interest to issue an import ban on iPhones. A month later, Qualcomm said in a court hearing that Apple is $7B behind in patent royalty payments, according to Reuters. Today, Reuters noted that Apple is not in talks "at any level" to settle its legal dispute with Qualcomm. 5. FTC MOTION: On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California sided with the Federal Trade Commission in its fight with Qualcomm, which is accused of abusing a monopoly in chips for cell phones and raising costs for consumers. The agency said that Qualcomm's refusal to license patents to rivals such as Intel (INTC) and Samsung (SSNLF) was part of a scheme to maintain its monopoly, according to Bloomberg.
NXP Semiconductors price target lowered to $99 from $112 at SunTrust. SunTrust analyst William Stein lowered his price target on NXP Semiconductors to $99 after its Q3 results beat expectations, saying that while the company's revenue growth remains at risk, its cost savings and capital allocation should preserve its earnings. The analyst also raises his FY19 EPS view to $9.06 from $8.58 and keeps his Buy rating on NXP Semiconductors, with the list of positives including rising buybacks, strong margins, capital returns, and cheap valuation.
Needham 'pounding the table' on NXP Semiconductors after earnings. Needham analyst Rajvindra Gill said NXP Semiconductors posted a "solid quarter and beat" given the uncertain macroeconomic climate and he is "pounding the table hard" to reiterate his Strong Buy rating on the stock given the growth drivers he sees in automotive, IoT and 5G infrastructure. While NXP saw a modest slowdown in auto and a slight sequential decline in order rates in China, Gill noted that NXP did not experience a material weakness in what he would call "leading indicators," such as order cancellations or excess inventory in the supply chain. The analyst raised his price target on NXP shares to $110 from $100 following the company's Q3 report.
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