Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019

tags:TISA,SINA,CDTI,NTES,SOL,ATAI,FMCN,BIDU, &l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty wp-image-1040425546 size-large&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/1040425546/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;639&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; The tension between President Trump&a;rsquo;s administration and China could be deterring Chinese investors from buying property in the United States, some say. (Credit: Getty Royalty Free)

Real estate experts are unclear in their predictions for the New York City real estate market this winter.

A number of factors, including a new tax law, rising interest rates and a decline in foreign investments, could influence the city&a;rsquo;s rental inventory and the number of homes sold.

Sales in the second quarter were down 20% year-over-year from 2017, according to a recent report from the brokerage &l;a href=&q;https://www.elliman.com/pdf/63978c27e625f9367e8bfd8f0e026d01cf805609&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Douglas Elliman&l;/a&g;.

Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of the consultant firm Miller Samuel, which compiles Douglas Elliman&a;rsquo;s reports, said some home-buyers and sellers are waiting to see how a federal law, which caps property tax write-offs at $10,000, will affect their finances when they file their returns in early 2019.

Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019: Top Image Systems Ltd.(TISA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Money Morning Staff Reports]

  Before we get to our latest pick, here are last week's top-performing penny stocks:

  Penny Stock Sector Current Share Price Last Week's Gain Melinta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MLNT) Healthcare $1.74 104.01% Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PTX) Healthcare $0.83 84.40% Top Image Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: TISA) Healthcare $0.82 59.85% Jason Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: JASN) Healthcare $2.21 58.99% Maxwell Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MXWL) Financial $4.66 51.79% Marathon Patent Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) Healthcare $0.52 51.47% Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ: FWP) Basic Materials $1.53 43.57% Dixie Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DXYN) Healthcare $1.40 42.86% Trevena Inc. (NASDAQ: TRVN) Services $1.41 39.60% Alliance MMA Inc. (NASDAQ: AMMA) Healthcare $4.95 36.18%

  Don't Miss Out: The Treasury is sitting on an $11.1 billion cash pile, and a loophole entitles Americans to a sizable portion. Some are collecting $1,795, $3,000, or $5,000 every month thanks to this powerful investment…

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Top Image Systems (TISA)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Top Image Systems (TISA)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019: Sina Corporation(SINA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Leo Sun]

  JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) recently partnered with SINA (NASDAQ:SINA), one of China's top portal sites, to pool the two companies' user data and resources together. JD.com will help SINA optimize its algorithms to match its readers with more relevant content -- which could help its portal sites lock in more users.

• [By Steve Symington]

  You wouldn't know it by the market's knee-jerk reaction, but SINA Corp. (NASDAQ:SINA) just announced another stronger-than-expected quarter early Wednesday. Shares of the Chinese internet media company fell 10% when all was said and done today -- though it's not the first time we've seen the stock fall on positive news.

• [By Leo Sun]

  During the same period, Tencent's share fell from 54.3% to 47.7%. Most of Toutiao's gains were made at Tencent's expense, since other apps from Baidu, Alibaba, and SINA (NASDAQ: SINA) didn't experience major year-over-year shifts. 

Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019: Clean Diesel Technologies Inc.(CDTI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Here are some of the media stories that may have impacted Accern Sentiment’s analysis:

  Get Molecular Templates alerts: Trading Center: Watching the Levels for Molecular Templates, Inc. (:MTEM): Move of 0.02 Since the Open (stocknewscaller.com) Molecular Templates (MTEM) Announces Clinical Data at 2018 ASCO Meeting (streetinsider.com) Gallbladder Cancer Treatment Sales Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application and Forecast to 2025 (exclusivereportage.com) ATR in spotlight EnSync, Inc. (NYSE:ESNC), CDTi Advanced Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTI), Molecular Templates, Inc … (stocksnewspoint.com)

  MTEM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. ValuEngine lowered shares of Molecular Templates from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Molecular Templates from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.20.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Shares of CDTi Advanced Materials Inc (NASDAQ:CDTI) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $0.33 and last traded at $0.36, with a volume of 500 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $0.36.

Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019: Netease.com Inc.(NTES)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Asit Sharma]

  Shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) have dipped 26.8% in the first six months of 2018, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

• [By Harsh Chauhan]

  Over the years, NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) has made the most of the opportunities presented by China's mobile and online gaming market, and has also diversified into fast-growing verticals like ecommerce to supercharge its prospects. Not surprisingly, NetEase investors have been a happy lot, as their investment in the Chinese internet specialist has experienced five straight years of double-digit percentage gains.

• [By Leo Sun]

  Shares of NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) recently tumbled after the Chinese tech company posted mixed first-quarter numbers. Its revenue rose 4% annually to 14.2 billion yuan ($2.3 billion), which beat estimates by $120 million. Unfortunately, its non-GAAP net income plunged 69% to 1.34 billion yuan ($213 million), or $1.61 per diluted ADS (American depositary share) -- which missed estimates by 36 cents.

• [By ]

  NetEase Inc (NYSE: NTES) is the largest online services provider in China with revenue from its e-commerce platform and online gaming. Sales on its e-commerce platform surged 157% last year to support slower growth in gaming which accounts for about 75% of total revenue. The company is also starting to monetize its gaming segment with movies and mini-series based on the characters in the games.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  It's been a rough year for NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) shareholders. The Chinese online gaming pioneer hit another 52-week low last week. The stock begins this week trading 48% off the all-time highs it set just nine months ago. 

Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on ReneSola (SOL)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Max Byerly]

  Sola Token (CURRENCY:SOL) traded up 26.7% against the US dollar during the 24 hour period ending at 22:00 PM E.T. on September 28th. One Sola Token token can currently be bought for $0.0085 or 0.00000131 BTC on popular exchanges including Tidex and OpenLedger DEX. Sola Token has a market capitalization of $0.00 and approximately $3,239.00 worth of Sola Token was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. During the last week, Sola Token has traded flat against the US dollar.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Sola Token (CURRENCY:SOL) traded 17.9% lower against the dollar during the 1-day period ending at 16:00 PM E.T. on October 11th. One Sola Token token can now be bought for about $0.0054 or 0.00000087 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges including Tidex and OpenLedger DEX. Sola Token has a total market cap of $153,306.00 and $1,856.00 worth of Sola Token was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. In the last seven days, Sola Token has traded down 12.2% against the dollar.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  These are some of the media headlines that may have impacted Accern’s scoring:

  Get ReneSola alerts: ReneSola Sells North Carolina Solar Project To Greenbacker (solarindustrymag.com) ReneSola (SOL) Rating Increased to Neutral at Roth Capital (americanbankingnews.com) ReneSola (SOL) Q1 Earnings in Line, Revenues Top Estimates (zacks.com) ReneSola’s (SOL) CEO Xianshou Li on Q1 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (seekingalpha.com) ReneSola (SOL) Releases Earnings Results (americanbankingnews.com)

  Shares of ReneSola traded up $0.08, hitting $2.76, during trading on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The stock had a trading volume of 124,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,565. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.11 million, a PE ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ReneSola has a 12 month low of $2.12 and a 12 month high of $3.79.

Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019: ATA Inc.(ATAI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  ATA Inc. (NASDAQ: ATAI) traded down about 14% Monday to set a new 52-week low of $0.82, based on revalued shares that closed at $0.72 on Friday but traded up about 250% on Monday at $2.53. Volume was more than 200 times the daily average of around 42,000. You’re on your own here to figure this one out.

Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019: Focus Media Holding Limited(FMCN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  An issue of Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ:FMCN) bonds fell 0.9% against their face value during trading on Monday. The high-yield debt issue has a 7.25% coupon and will mature on April 1, 2023. The bonds in the issue are now trading at $99.13 and were trading at $98.13 last week. Price moves in a company’s bonds in credit markets sometimes anticipate parallel moves in its share price.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  An issue of Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ:FMCN) debt fell 1.1% against its face value during trading on Tuesday. The debt issue has a 7.5% coupon and is set to mature on April 1, 2025. The debt is now trading at $97.63 and was trading at $98.50 last week. Price changes in a company’s debt in credit markets sometimes anticipate parallel changes in its stock price.

Top 10 China Stocks To Own For 2019: Baidu Inc.(BIDU)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Billy Duberstein]

  There are three clear leaders riding this wave, all of which have ties to the "big three" of China, or the "BAT": Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), and Tencent (NASDAQOTH:TCEHY). For investors interested in riding the Chinese streaming video trend, the following are definitely the stocks to own.

• [By Anders Bylund, Jason Hall, Danny Vena, Jordan Wathen, and Brian Feroldi]

  In that spirit, we asked a few of our Motley Fool investors what they see as the best investment ideas at the start of July, 2018. They were quick to suggest Chinese e-commerce giant Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), coffee giant Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), clean energy specialist TerraForm Power (NASDAQ:TERP), semiconductor veteran Intel, (NASDAQ:INTC), and Texan bank Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR).

• [By Danny Vena]

  Earlier this month when Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) reported revenue and earnings that exceeded analysts' consensus estimates -- as well as the company's own forecast -- the company's stock fell nearly 8% on reports that Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) was planning to reintroduce a censored version of its Google search engine for consumers in China, according to a report in The Intercept.

• [By Leo Sun]

  Both companies are also backed by tech giants. Alibaba owned 21% of Momo when the company went public, but it subsequently reduced its stake to the single digits. Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) still owns a majority stake in iQiyi, which was originally its streaming video subsidiary.

• [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

  For the details of UG Investment Advisers Ltd.'s stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=UG+Investment+Advisers+Ltd.

  These are the top 5 holdings of UG Investment Advisers Ltd.Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA) - 614,239 shares, 60.27% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 13.32%Baidu Inc (BIDU) - 151,251 shares, 19.44% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 6.33%JD.com Inc (JD) - 858,238 shares, 17.68% of the total portfolio. New PositionQudian Inc (QD) - 524,698 shares, 2.46% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 42.98%Sea Ltd
• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The stock market didn't see much volatility on Friday, with most major benchmarks finishing the session very close to where they had started. Without much in the way of market-moving news on the national or global front, most investors instead paid attention to the cross-currents involved with monthly options expirations. Some other parts of the financial markets were more interesting, with bond yields easing a bit lower after their big upward push earlier in the week and oil prices taking a break from their recent surge. Yet some individual companies suffered from bad news that sent their shares lower. Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), GameStop (NYSE:GME), and Opko Health (NASDAQ:OPK) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

Why Morgan Stanley's Buying Solium Capital

On Monday, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced it was purchasing Canadian stock plan administrator Solium Capital for $900 million, and let's be honest: Before this week, odds are you'd never heard of the target company before. Also that day, Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) reported quarterly earnings, and in that case, most people are far better acquainted with its chains: Burger King, Tim Horton's and Popeyes.

In this Market Foolery podcast, senior analyst Abi Malin and host Chris Hill reflect on the upsides of the acquisition, the complexities of the fast-food business, and more as they offer investors some insights into what the day's news might mean to them. They also answer a listener's question on the subject of price-to-earnings ratios: How do you think about a divergence between the trailing P/E and the forward, and which is the better way to measure a stock's value?

A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on Feb. 11, 2019.

Chris Hill: It's Monday, Feb. 11. Welcome to Market Foolery! I'm Chris Hill. Joining me in studio on a rainy Monday is Abi Malin. Thanks for being here!

Abi Malin: Thanks for having me!

Hill: We're going to dip into the Fool mailbag. We're going to talk restaurant stocks. We're going to start with the deal of the day. Morgan Stanley is buying Solium Capital for $900 million. Solium Capital, based in Alberta, Canada, prepares stock plans for start-up companies. Shares of Solium are up 42% today. Good for those folks.

Morgan Stanley, it's their biggest deal since the financial crisis. First, do you like this deal?

Malin: Yeah, I think it's an interesting deal for three reasons. The first is, as you mentioned, Solium Capital is a Canadian company. They provide stock plans for start-ups. I think there's really three big takeaways from this. The first is that Solium provides predictability to Morgan Stanley earnings. Wealth management is a subscription-division model for Morgan Stanley. This is an easy plugin for them. There's cross-selling opportunities. Also, down the line, there could be retirement planning opportunities for these clients. A lot of opportunity from the get-go with this acquisition. 

The second thing that I think is interesting is, starting in the beginning of last year, we saw a lot of predicted mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector. We're just now starting to see that tick up. Last week, we had the news about BB&T and SunTrust. This week, it's Morgan Stanley buying Solium. It's an interesting time for this to happen, because in the banking sector, you have a couple of positive things going on right now. You have a strong economy, widened interest rate spreads in comparison to recent history, lower credit losses, lower corporate taxes, and a little bit of easing on compliance. But for the negatives, regional banks used to compete with these much larger banks just on relationships. As people have moved more toward electronic banking, that's become less of an advantage. You've also seen these regional banks lack the technology that these larger banks have. The consolidation makes sense. I think we've all been waiting a while for it. I think this deal makes sense from that regard. 

The third part is a comment about start-up culture in general. Clients at Solium have included Instacart, Shopify, and Stripe. I think it could be an interesting plugin to Morgan Stanley's business to see maybe a relationship into IPO mandates, potentially, from Morgan Stanley. That's also interesting because companies have chosen to stay private so much longer and at higher valuations. 

Hill: I was a little surprised when I saw that this was the biggest deal Morgan Stanley's made in the past decade. Morgan Stanley, you're talking about a $70 billion business. Not that $900 million is chump change, but it's smaller than I would have bet on. CEO James Gorman was pretty clear about the fact that -- and you touched on this point -- they're looking to do more of these. They're looking to make more acquisitions. 

Malin: Yeah. Typically, smaller acquisitions tend to go better. That's the general consensus. So I think it makes sense. This one in particular is interesting because it bridges that gap between private and public equities. 

Hill: The other thing I was struck by, $900 million in cash, the buyout price for Solium is $19.15 a share. When we walked in the studio, Solium was trading at $19.10 a share. That tells me this is something that should go smoothly, and it's not going to be a situation like we've seen over the past couple of months where --

Malin: Regulators are fighting it.

Hill: -- regulators are fighting it, or, also in the financials space, Visa and Mastercard going back and forth battling for this British payments company, Earthport. This looks like Morgan Stanley's got this one locked up. 

Malin: Yeah. I think part of that is just competition within the space. It's not necessarily as competitive as some of those other deals that you just mentioned. 

Hill: Let's move on to Restaurant Brands International, which is the parent company of Popeyes, Tim Hortons, and Burger King. Fourth-quarter results were good. The stock isn't really popping today, but they preannounced in January, so just in the last five, six weeks or so, this stock is up more than 20%. I'll tell you what stood out to me; you tell me what stands out to you. Once again, we've got an umbrella corporation that's got several restaurants, and one of them is lagging the others. In this case, Tim Hortons and Burger King performing, at least in this quarter, much better than Popeyes. 

Malin: I think that's a this-quarter issue. Popeyes for the year, sales were up 9%. That's driven by 7% restaurant growth and comp sales of about 1.6%, which I don't think is anything insignificant. But definitely, for this quarter, Popeyes was the drag.

Hill: Do you have a sense of what the delivery strategy is for QSR -- Restaurant Brands International, I should say. The ticker is QSR. In my mind, one of the great ticker symbols. Do you have a sense of, are they approaching delivery in an integrated way? Meaning, "This is what we want across all of our restaurant brands." They're all in that fast-food space. Are they doing it by essentially letting each restaurant brand decide upon themselves? You and I have talked about delivery before. Investors, if you're looking at restaurant stocks, this is a box you need to check. 

Malin: I would imagine that it's more uniform across the entire system. They've mentioned they have delivery in about 3,000 restaurants for Burger King in the U.S. and about 7,000 around the world for Burger King. And Popeyes, especially, it's their push in bringing that restaurant back up to speed, maybe. They have delivery in about 1,100 Popeye's restaurants in the U.S., and that's about 50% of all of their restaurants. And that was really done zero to 100 in just one year. It's definitely a necessary technological investment. We've seen a lot of restaurants get in this groove of how they're going to figure it out. You've seen some big partnerships between Grubhub and Yum! Brands. I think it's the question to be answered, and it's just about how you can do it most efficiently. 

Hill: It would seem on the surface -- you know a lot more about the delivery industry and Grubhub in particular than I do -- like unless you feel like your restaurant can operate at a high level when it comes to delivery, that the partnership route seems like it would be an easier route to go. 

Malin: Yeah, theoretically it should be like as long as there's an existing marketplace there. Part of that is also about these brands, though. Are people going to go on Grubhub's site and specifically look for Popeyes or Burger King? I think those are strong enough brands that perhaps they could, and maybe they could even be strong enough that they demand their own app, which is what you've seen a lot of the pizza industry do. They haven't really partnered, because traditionally, pizza was takeout, so you were so acclimated to looking for it by itself. 

I think it's interesting, especially in this middle segment. Maybe Popeyes is fast food; maybe it's a little bit higher. But probably more fast food. It's definitely a consumer behavior shift, and I think companies are just struggling to catch up. 

Hill: Before we dip into the Fool mailbag, I want to say we're going to be doing another live Q&A on YouTube this Wednesday, Feb. 13. You can email questions here; you can post them on The Motley Fool's YouTube channel; hit us up on Twitter. It's going to be myself, Jason Moser, Ron Gross. We're going to be talking stocks. We hope you join us -- youtube.com/themotleyfool. Go subscribe. We'll see you Wednesday afternoon. We're still working out the exact time. It's going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 or 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. Subscribe on The Motley Fool's YouTube channel, and you'll be all taken care of.

marketfoolery@fool.com is our email address. Question from Matt McIver, who asks, "Is there anything to be gleaned from comparing current P/E to forward P/E? Am I correct in reading the tea leaves that a lower forward P/E is a bullish indicator?" Thank you, Matt, for the question! 

So, when you're looking at current price to earnings ratio versus forward price-to-earnings ratio... ?

Malin: I think the big factor here is what you're comparing. Current P/E is current price over current earnings. Forward P/E is the current price over the expected earnings per share. When forward P/E is less than future P/E, it indicates that there is a projected increase in earnings per share, but that can be done by an increase in earnings and/or usually some combination of stock buybacks.

I would say it's an optimistic signal, but I think the thing to keep in mind here is that analysts have to be right. That's an expectation. If they beat expectation, that's where you really see the opportunity. If they miss expectations, even if it's above what it currently is, you're still going to see some fluctuation to the downside. Keep in mind that that's an expectation and not a set projection.

Hill: Do you have one that you rely on more than the other as a working analyst?

Malin: I look more at current price to current earnings as it compares to major competitors and the player, trying to get a value sense between Company A and Company B when they both compete in the same sector. 

Hill: Just to go back to Restaurant Brands for a second, as a fellow New Englander, are you a little surprised anytime you're in New England and you see a Tim Hortons? Because I always am.

Malin: Yeah. It's Dunkin' territory up there, right?

Hill: It's Dunkin' territory. Starbucks has made inroads. I'm not surprised when I go back to New England and I see Starbucks. I am still surprised when I see Tim Hortons.

Malin: I would agree with that.

Hill: In part because our colleague, Jim Gillies -- a proud son of Canada, Jim Gillies -- has not really anything good to say about Tim Hortons' coffee.

Malin: I have Canadian fans who swear by it.

Hill: Oh, OK!

Malin: But maybe they're being defensive because it's Canadian.

Hill: [laughs] Could be. Abi Malin, thanks for being here!

Malin: Thanks for having me!

Hill: As always, people on the program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. That's going to do it for this edition of Market Foolery. The show is mixed by Dan Boyd. I'm Chris Hill. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow!

Editor's note: In the discussion of forward P/E, Abi Malin intended to say that when forward P/E is less than current P/E, it indicates a projected increase in earnings and/or a decrease in share count.

Why Gogo Stock Gained 38.1% in January

What happened

Gogo (NASDAQ:GOGO) stock gained 38.1% in January, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The in-flight broadband company's stock fell roughly 44% from October through December, but shares saw substantial recovery early in 2019 thanks to a hardware performance fix, raised full-year guidance, and a rebound for the broader market after 2018's turbulent close. 

GOGO data by YCharts

Gogo stock was hit hard in the final quarter of 2018, as steep sell-offs for the market and negative valuation pressures stemming from the issuance of new convertible notes pulled its valuation to five-year lows. With good news on multiple fronts and a more optimistic backdrop for stocks, the in-flight-internet company had some new wind in its sails last month. 

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Gogo published a press release on Jan. 9, providing an update on its de-icing initiative and issuing guidance for the full-year period. Shares jumped following the release, stating that efforts to fix performance issues caused by de-icing fluid had been successful, and the stock continued to climb as the month progressed. The largely completed de-icing modifications meant the company was able to forgo further expenses it had associated with the project, and Gogo raised its net income target for the full year to the high end of its $45 million-to-$60 million target. 

Now what

Gogo stock has trended lower in February, with shares down roughly 9.7% in the month's trading so far. It's unclear at this time what has prompted the decline. 

GOGO data by YCharts

Gogo is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes on Feb. 21. The company expects full-year sales to come in between $865 million and $935 million, representing roughly 46.5% growth at the midpoint. 

Why Facebook Stock Jumped 27.2% in January

What happened

Shares of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) gained 27.2% in January, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock soared after the company published fourth-quarter earnings that delivered sales and earnings performance that came in well ahead of the market's expectations. 

FB data by YCharts.

Facebook published its earnings results after market close on Jan. 30, with sales for the period climbing 30% year over year to reach $16.9 billion and earnings per share up 65% to reach $2.38 -- thanks in part to a substantially lower tax rate and the company's stock buybacks. After a string of mixed quarterly reports and controversies, that was exactly the kind of blockbuster performance investors were looking for, and shares soared following the release.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Investors had become less optimistic about Facebook's outlook on the heels of decelerating growth and a series of user privacy and data mining scandals, but the strong fourth-quarter results did a lot to restore excitement surrounding the company. Monthly active users and daily active users both climbed 9% compared to the prior-year period, and average revenue per user increased, helping to allay concerns about whether users on the company's core social media site were starting to lose interest in the platform. 

Now what

The company estimates that some 2.7 billion people use Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp on a monthly basis and more than 2 billion people use at least one of its services daily. Advertising business is migrating from Facebook to Instagram, but that transition appears to be going smoothly, and the company continues to explore opportunities in messaging and the payment services outside of its core platforms. The company's big push into video and the performance of its IGTV and Watch apps are worth keeping an eye on as well -- and could give it new avenues for generating online ad sales, help alleviate ad saturation issues, and strengthen the company's overall social ecosystem.

Metlife (MET) Shares Gap Down to $45.20

Shares of Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $46.54, but opened at $45.20. Metlife shares last traded at $43.52, with a volume of 7179901 shares.

Several analysts have weighed in on MET shares. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Metlife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 12th. Wells Fargo & Co set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Metlife and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Metlife from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Metlife from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 17th. Finally, Sandler O’Neill raised shares of Metlife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.16.

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The stock has a market cap of $44.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14.

Metlife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $15.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.84 billion. Metlife had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Metlife Inc will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 5th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 4th. Metlife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.33%.

Metlife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

In other news, Director Carlos M. Gutierrez bought 6,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,856.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,238.72. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MET. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Metlife by 4,191.8% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,828,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 12,529,511 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Metlife by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,498,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,452,721,000 after acquiring an additional 5,760,379 shares during the last quarter. MERIAN GLOBAL INVESTORS UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Metlife by 2,954.4% in the fourth quarter. MERIAN GLOBAL INVESTORS UK Ltd now owns 2,311,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236,048 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in Metlife by 4,778.5% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,324,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,350,000 after buying an additional 1,297,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Metlife by 833.5% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,235,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,711,000 after buying an additional 1,102,832 shares during the last quarter. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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About Metlife (NYSE:MET)

MetLife, Inc engages in the insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management businesses. It operates through five segments: U.S.; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short- and long-term disability, individual disability, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and stable value products, including general and separate account guaranteed interest contracts, and private floating rate funding agreements.

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