Top Trending Tickers On StockTwits For February 21

Here's a look at the top tickers trending on StockTwits.com

Groupon: Margins under pressure, investors not impressed

Last night, Groupon GRPN reported its fourth quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.04, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02. Revenue of $768.4 million beat the consensus estimate of $178.04. Operating income for the quarter was $13.4 million, compared with an operating loss of $12.9 million in the same quarter last year.

"Our record performance in the quarter was led by strength in Goods, as shoppers increasingly looked to Groupon to fill their holiday needs," said Eric Lefkofsky, CEO of Groupon. "Our mobile business continued to gain momentum as our worldwide mobile transaction mix increased more than 10% in the quarter, to nearly 50% in December. With another 9 million downloads this quarter, we now have nearly 70 million app downloads to date."

Investors took notice when it came to gross margin. Due to an ongoing shift towards Goods/e-commerce sales, gross margin in the quarter fell to 49.2 percent from 60.4 percent in the third quarter and 55.7 percent a year ago.

Groupon issued guidance and expects its first quarter revenue to be $710 million to $760 million, above a consensus estimate of $668.6 million. EPS on the other hand will face continued pressure due to “marketing and other initiatives” and is expected to be -$0.04 to -$0.02, below the consensus estimate of $0.06.

Shares were trading lower by 11 percent in the pre-market session.

Priceline: Solid quarterly results, guidance shy of expectations

Last night, Priceline PCLN reported its fourth quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $8.85, beating the consensus estimate of $8.29. Revenue of $1.54 billion beat the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Non GAAP net income for the quarter totaled $471 million, a 35.2 percent increase year over year.

“The Priceline Group finished 2013 with a strong 4th quarter, reporting accelerating hotel, rental car and airline ticket unit growth,” said Darren Huston, President and CEO of The Priceline Group. The Group's full year room night reservations of 271 million grew by 37%, as compared to 40% in 2012, reflecting only modest deceleration on a large scale business.” Looking forward, Mr. Huston said, “The Group's brands are off to a solid start in 2014, with continued investment in broadening our offerings, building our brands and providing a superior experience to our customers.”

Priceline issued guidance and sees its first quarter EPS to be $6.35 to $6.85, below the consensus estimate of $7.21. Revenue is expected to grow 15 to 25 percent, lower than previous projections for 27 percent.

Shares were trading higher by 2.5 percent in the pre-market session.

Nordstrom: EPS beat, revenue miss

Last night, Nordstrom JWN reported its fourth quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $1.37, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34. Revenue of $3.61 billion missed the consensus estimate of $3.49 billion. Net income fell to $268 million in the quarter, from $284 million in the same quarter last year. Gross profit, as a percentage of net sales fell to 37.2 percent from 37.8 percent in the same quarter last year as the company was forced to increase its promotional activity in the holiday season.

Nordstrom said that its investments in the e-commerce chain and costs related to expanding to Canada will weigh in on profit growth. The company plans to spend between $840 million to $880 million in fiscal 2014, compared with $714 million in fiscal 2013.

“The estimated loss before interest and taxes for Canada is expected to be approximately $35 million in fiscal 2014, compared with a loss before interest and taxes of $14 million in fiscal 2013,” the company said in a statement. “This outlook also incorporates Nordstrom Rack's accelerated store expansion and increased technology investments to improve service and experience across all channels.”

Shares were trading higher by 1.2 percent in the pre-market session.

Facebook: Still a hot topic

Facebook's FB acquisition of WhatsApp is still a hot topic of conversation.

The StockTwit community continues to debate whether Facebook's acquisition is a positive for the company. Also a popular topic of conversation is how Facebook should monetize its new asset.

“$FB Whatsapp No advertising! Soon to be 1 billion users, instead of $1 subscription make it $2 still way cheaper than a text plan!,” said a user. “Defensive + User Data + Global footprint = Win,” said another. “$FB People Zuck just gave a billion to charity so why wouldn't he give 19 billion for the hottest app in world. New river of cool.”

Shares were trading higher by 1.2 percent in the pre-market session.

Hewlett-Packard: Earnings beat, light guidance

Last night, Hewlett-Packard HPQ reported its first quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.90, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84. Revenue of $28.2 billion beat the consensus estimate of $27.19 billion. Net earnings for the quarter totaled $1.425 billion, lower than net earnings of $1.414 billion the company recorded in the same quarter last year.

"HP is in a stronger position today than we've been in quite some time," said Meg Whitman , HP president and chief executive officer. "The progress we're making is reflected in growth across several parts of our portfolio, the growing strength of our balance sheet, and the strong support we're receiving from customers and channel partners. Innovation is igniting our comeback, and at a time when many of our competitors are confronting new challenges, two years of turnaround work is setting us up for an exciting future."

Sales of PCs grew four percent year over year in the quarter after falling two percent last quarter. Sales of desktops declined three percent while notebooks rose five percent and business PCs rose eight percent. Consumer PCs declined three percent. During the quarter, the company spent $565 million on buybacks.

Hewlett-Packard issued guidance and sees its second quarter EPS to be $0.85 to $0.89 versus a consensus estimate of $0.89. Fiscal 2014 EPS is guided to be $3.60 to $3.75 versus a consensus estimate of $3.67.

Shares were trading higher by 2.1 percent in the pre market session.