#$mfrm

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2 Stocks to Watch Before the Market Opens Tomorrow

Kroger (KR): The supermarket chain has a history of beating on the bottom line and delivering in-line results on the top. Earnings growth has significantly decelerated throughout this streak and is expected to grow by 5% compared to a year earlier. Revenue on the other hand is trending up with sales growth projected 5% higher this quarter. The company is well positioned to sustain this sales growth with its expanding store base and dominant market position. Moreover Kroger has gained ground in its organic offerings, attracting additional customers who had otherwise frequented Whole Foods. Shares are down 25% year to date and haven’t reacted well to the company’s near term upside.

Mattress Firm Holding (MFRM): In early august, Steinhoff International Holdings agreed to buy Mattress Firm for $64 per share, valuing the deal at about $2.4 billion. Prior to this Mattress firm shares had declined 52% from a year earlier as waning demand and discounting weighed on its results. Tomorrow’s analyst call will likely shed some light on what management believes is in store for the company post acquisition. As for this quarter, earnings are projected to stabilize after a dismal first quarter. Analysts are forecasting a 3% increase on the bottom line and 10% on the top. Shares have historically struggled through earnings reports, but given the takeover and other oddities we’ve seen this season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the stock pop tomorrow morning.

How do you think these names will report? Be included in the Estimize consensus by contributing your estimates here!

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A Mattress for All Seasons – Steinhoff buys Mattress Form, Vindicates Contrarian Stock Pick

They say the best investors find opportunities in the worst circumstances. While others are afraid of catching a falling knife, they'll step in and see that it's only just about to stop in a butcher-block. Or, In this case, the mattress. The South African retailer, Steinhoff, announced a bid today for the equity and assumed debt of Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (MFRM) at a 115% premium to yesterday's closing stock price. For a select few hedge fund managers, it's provided a welcome boost to returns. Steinhoff is a South African retailer that sees the $3.8b acquisition as an important source of diversification from its weakened domestic market. Steinhoff's acquisition strategy has already shifted its revenue concentration to Europe, where it sources more than  two-thirds of its $11b in annual revenue. The acquisition of Mattress Firm will mark Steinhoff's first foray into North America and will form the world's largest mattress distributor. Says Richard Chamberlain, an analyst at RBC, "We think Steinhoff is paying a strategic premium to allow it to enter the US market with an industry leading partner." To say that most hedge funds did not see this coming would be an understatement. It is a contrarian position. Just over twenty hedge funds held a position in Mattress Firm as of the last filing date. An analysis of flows illustrates that hedge funds, more broadly, were selling, as of the latest disclosure. Flows of Mattress Firm holdings from hedge fund managers with high StockAlpha, a measure of a manager's stock-picking skill, were in the opposite direction. They were buyers, and their purchases were also driving the consensus score higher -- a measure of a position's popularity among hedge funds. Simply put: Mattress Firm was becoming more popular with the smart-money. Today, the contrarian investors in Mattress Form were vindicated. Steinhoff's decision to expand to the US market through acquiring Mattress Form mirrored the prospective analysis firms like Pivot Point must have been making when they invested in Mattress Form. Who were these managers? -- Click Here For More The latest hedge fund holdings will be filed on August 15th. Register with Symmetric.io to receive the Symmetric Top Stock Pickers report and access to manager ownership details and StockAlpha measures.

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What We’re Trading

BIIB - Way early this am, Biogen Idec released positive results in study of patients with Alzheimer's disease for a phase 1 trial. Shares surge nearly 10% to $76 on the OptionsHouse extended hours platform!! ICPT - Intercept trading up 8.5% in the pre as our Meg Tirrel said on Fast 5 last night, they had positive results in analysis of FLINT trial of NASH patients. CMCM - Cheetah Mobile beat EPS forecasts by 6 cents on stronger revenues, shares pushing 5% gain into the open. CTRP - Missed EPS forecasts but raised guidance so significantly that shares jump 20% in the pre. DRI - Parent company of Olive Garden beat EPS forecasts by 15 cents on inline revenues, but raised guidance is what's driving shares to a 5% gain in the pre. ICPT - Intercept trading up 8.5% in the pre as our Meg Tirrel said on Fast 5 last night, they had positive results in analysis of FLINT trial of NASH patients. MFRM - Mattress Firm beat EPS forecasts on stronger revenues & raised guidance, shares up 5% here.