Out Fox The $treet

After hitting new multi-year lows in February, Stratasys (SSYS) has slowly started trending up to where the stock might finally break the downtrend. One possible reason is this smooth robotic 3D printer that appears to be a game changer. Per the company: Stratasys recently previewed its new Robotic Composite 3D Demonstrator at IMTS 2016. This game-changing additive manufacturing system combines Stratasys' advanced extrusion technologies with Siemens’ motion control hardware and PLM software. 

Alphabet was downgraded by Wedbush suggesting the companies search business faces an inflection point. The stock trades at a relative value with plenty of opportunities for financial discipline to boost profits. The suggestion is to let the stock tell you when the inflection point occurs, especially at these breakout levels above $800. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG )(NASDAQ: GOOGL ) is trading sideways near a new high today after an analyst downgrade. The decision is odd considering the stock is near a breakout and potential run towards $900 and possibly even $1,000. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Pfizer is down sharply over the last couple of months culminating with a decision to not split into two companies. The company has a stock buyback plan, but chooses to use larger amounts of cash on making acquisitions such as paying $14 billion for Medivation. Pfizer isn't a horrible stock to own, but the signals don't suggest outperformance for the next year. At first glance, the multi-month drop in  Pfizer (NYSE: PFE )  appears to offer an opportunity. After all, the dividend is back to a respectable 3.5%. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

After slightly weak guidance following the Q2 earnings report, Zoe's Kitchen (ZOES) has absolutely collapsed. The stock is now down from $38 to the $24 range providing a double bottom opportunity. The valuation is reasonable at $475 million with revenues heading towards $333 million next year.  Check out these other research posts: Zoe's Kitchen: Patience Rewards Investors With Dip Opportunity Opportunities In Restaurant Stocks Disclosure: Long ZOES. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Reports of interests in bidding for Twitter sent the stock to multi-month highs. The difference between what bidders will pay and where Twitter values the social media site suggests a deal is highly unlikely. Investors wrongly confuse exploring options with accepting any imminent bid. The good numbers from week 2 in the NFL support buying Twitter on any dips if the buyout surge deflates this week. Twitter (NYSE: TWTR ) shot up 21% on Friday to a recent high of $22.62 on news that the social media service was moving closer to being sold. The  CNBC report  suggested that Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG )(NASDAQ: GOOGL ) and Salesforce (NYSE: CRM ) were seriously looking at making bids. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: Long TWTR. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The success of the last decade is leading to increased competition. Increasingly, Adidas and Under Armour are making strides in endorsement deals by ramping up spending. Nike is an expensive stock for one facing a more competitive environment. In the business world, the typical price of success is increased competition. A company that has seen huge stock gains or generates large profits can expect a flood of new competition. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Twitter (TWTR) is soaring 20% today on news today that the company is in informal discussions regarding a sale of the business. According to the news, Alphabet (GOOG) and s alesforce.com (CRM) are looking at a bid for the social media giant. The big question is whether a Twitter shareholder even wants a deal. After the gains the stock has a market value of $15.7 billion. A decent value for the current revenue base, but the potential remains massive. What if the NFL streaming deal and the host of shows lining up for the site starts expanding the user base. Facebook (FB) now has a market value of over $370 billion. Maybe it isn't possible to ever reach that level, but one could argue that these streaming deals with the likes of 120 Sports and Cheddar provide a compelling case for users to return to the service. If Twitter can really show that 800 million people view the site, than Twitter actually has half the user base of Facebook and no where near half the market valuat

Microsoft announced new capital return plans including an 8% dividend hike. The new stock buyback plan has limited ability to impact the stock considering the surging stock over the last few years. The net payout yield is average for the current market. After the close, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT )  released  that the company will add to the existing capital return program. The total of the share repurchase program is attention grabbing, but investors need to consider whether the amount is actual impactful to the stock. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position 

Twitter (TWTR) launches TV streaming apps just in time to kickoff the NFL streams starting on Thursday. The apps will be available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Xbox One making the streams available to cord cutters with a TV. The big unknown is how many people will tune into these non-exclusive deals. The stock trades at a reasonable valuation with tons of upside if these streaming deals like the NFL start driving users. Disclosure: Long TWTR. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Under Armour split the stock into a new class this year in order to allow the CEO to unload shares and maintain voting power. The stock has traded weak over the last year as costs continue to pressure results. A strong case can be made for value in the Class C shares. Back in 2015,  Under Armour (NYSE: UA )  decided to split the stock into another class of shares. The deal was signaled as a stock dividend, but the real intent of the move was to allow the CEO an ability to unload shares without losing voting power.  Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.

Twitter unleashes professional broadcasts this week with both Bloomberg shows and NFL games debuting this week. The Periscope app continues to show high viewership of top content. The recent dip in the stock provides another opportunity to own Twitter on the verge of officially becoming a media company. One of the biggest issues with Twitter (NYSE: TWTR ) is the randomness of the content posted on the site. A user logging onto the site may or may not see the interesting posts of the day. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha Disclosure: Long TWTR. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Freeport-McMoRan agrees to dump the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets once coveted. The large copper miner is again dumping assets at the lows in the commodity cycle. The company is now positioned for any upside in copper prices. After the close,  Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX )   announced  the move to unload oil and gas properties to  Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC ) . The move is consistent with plans announced by the copper miner to unload assets in a goal to reduce debt levels. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Long FCX. Please read the full article on Seeking Alpha.

Potash Corp. and Agrium officially announced a merger agreement. The merger of equals will provide tons of benefits to shareholders including a dominant market position in crop inputs and $500 million in synergies. An investment in the merger deal assumes regulators will approve the top two players in the fertilizer segment forming a dominant industry player. In a time period when numerous large scale mergers have been blocked by government regulators, the decision of  Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT )  and  Agrium (NYSE: AGU )  to go forward with a merger is interesting. Even more interesting is that a large amount of the  merger presentation  appeared to highlight the very benefit as having the largest scale by far in the crop input segment. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.