It has been a wild and volatile week in the stock market. Reactions to trade war news, interest rate scares and even earnings have all played their part in creating big winners and big losers. Some classic investing theories revolve around the notion that earnings are the ultimate driver of stocks. That may be up for debate in some companies that push out profits while they build scale and try to grab more share during their growth phase, but it turns out that earnings season has proven to be quite painful on many companies.
24/7 Wall St. has tracked more than a dozen stocks that showed serious damage to their shareholders on Friday alone. We have chosen to focus solely on the companies falling after their earnings reports to keep this focused, but some of these stocks already had fallen handily from their 52-week highs.
These are not the only losers after earnings, but these are the big movers to the downside that also have seen active trading on Friday after the first 60 to 90 minutes of the day. Any consensus analyst target prices or estimates were taken from Refinitiv, unless otherwise noted.
Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTR) reported that it had $0.06 in earnings per share (EPS) and $106.8 million in revenue, which compares with consensus estimates of $0.07 in EPS and $109.06 million in revenue. The same period of last year had $0.05 in EPS and $95.57 million in revenue. Shares of Altair Engineering were last seen down about 12% at $36.82, in a 52-week range of $25.28 to $43.99. The consensus price target is $39.60.
Axon Enterprise Inc. (NASDAQ: AAXN) posted $0.14 in EPS and $112 million in revenue, while consensus estimates had called for $0.18 in EPS and $115.49 million in revenue. The year-ago period had $0.18 in EPS and $99.23 million in revenue. Bookings in the Software & Sensors segment set a new record at $142 million, up 60% over last year and 86% sequentially. Shares of Axon were trading down about 14% at $59.00, in a 52-week range of $39.43 to $74.93. The consensus price target was $73.86.
Second-quarter earnings results prompted Dropbox Inc. (NASDAQ: DBX) shares to drop on Friday. The file-hosting service said that it had $0.10 in EPS and $401.5 million in revenue, compared with $0.11 in EPS and $339.2 million in revenue in the same period last year. Consensus estimates were calling of $0.09 in EPS and $401 million in revenue. During the quarter, paying users totaled 13.6 million, as compared to 11.9 million a year ago. Average revenue per paying user was $120.48, as compared to $116.66 for the same period last year. Shares of Dropbox were down nearly 13% at $18.73, in a 52-week range of $18.50 to $32.25. The consensus price target was $32.27.
After barely an hour of trading on Friday, DXC Technology Co. (NYSE: DXC) was down a whopping 30.7% at $35.77, with more than 10 million shares having traded hands. The company still has a $9.9 billion market cap and the stock is down from a 52-week high of $96.75. This is the renamed company formed from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Computer Sciences. Net income after restructuring was $0.61 per share in the quarter, down from $0.90 a year ago, and adjusted income was $1.74 per share, after having been $1.93 a year ago. DXC also lowered its 2019 guidance.
Farfetch Ltd. (NASDAQ: FTCH) may want to look at its corporate name and ask if it is appropriate. It was the biggest loser of all after earnings and announcing a $675 million acquisition. The company’s net loss of almost $90 million was wider than a year earlier, and the stock was down 39.8% at $10.98, with over 12 million shares in the first hour of trading alone. Its new 52-week range is $10.27 to $32.40, but it still has a $3.3 billion market cap. Amazingly, the luxury fashion technology platform provider indicated that its gross merchandise value of $488 million and revenue of $209 million in the second quarter were records, while its platform’s gross merchandise value was up 44% nominally and up 49% on a constant currency basis.
Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) shares were down handily after reporting a second-quarter loss of $109.9 million, versus net income of $971.5 million a year ago. Licensing revenues were the issue, and Nektar took multiple analyst downgrades and major price target cuts. The stock was down 34.9% at $19.26 on more than 11 million shares in the first hour of trading. It still has a $3.8 billion market cap, but the drop to under $20 looks far worse than the $29.57 closing price, when you consider that it already had been cut more than in half from its 52-week high of $69.76.
Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN) had had a solid run higher this year, but the seller and installer of residential solar energy systems posted a $1.3 million loss for the quarter. That’s just a one-cent loss per share, but FactSet was calling for a gain of 12 cents for the quarter. Shares were down 12% at $16.49, and the trading volume was not even quite 2 million shares after about 75 minutes of trading. Sunrun’s 52-week range is $8.81 to $21.42.
The term “peak auto” seems to be bleeding far and wide. TrueCar Inc. (NASDAQ: TRUE) was down a sharp 28% at $3.45 after posting a $24.1 million loss in the second quarter and lowering guidance for the full year. Its shares hit a new 52-week low of $3.01 earlier in the session, down from a 52-week high of $14.55. TrueCar now is barely worth $350 million.
Uber Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: UBER) received a horrible post-earnings review. Revenue growth and earnings disappointed investors, and this was sad to see considering, that Lyft had performed so well after its earnings. It seems hard to imagine that Uber lost twice as much money as the U.S. Postal Service, but after factoring in the IPO expenses, that appears to be the case. Uber was last seen down over 7.5% at $39.70, still within its post-IPO trading range of $36.08 to $47.08. Uber traded more than 17 million shares in its first hour of trading.
Waitr Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: WTRH) lost more than half of its value on Friday. On top of its founding CEO transitioning to board chair and the chief operating officer taking over the chief executive role, the company lost nearly $25 million in the quarter after factoring in items. Revenue rose by 218% to $51.3 million, and active diners grew by 248%. Integrating Waitr and Bite Squad and having a “path to profitability” didn’t help matters here. The stock was down 60% at $1.48, and 4 million shares traded hands in the first 90 minutes of Friday’s session. That is a new low of $1.40 on the day, and it’s down from above $14 as recently as March.
Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in Activision Blizzard, ANGI Home Services, Azul, Baidu, CommScope, E*Trade, Kraft Heinz, Symantec, Uber Technologies and many more.
Essential Tips for Investing (Sponsored)
A financial advisor can help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of investment properties. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Investing in real estate can diversify your portfolio. But expanding your horizons may add additional costs. If you’re an investor looking to minimize expenses, consider checking out online brokerages. They often offer low investment fees, helping you maximize your profit.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.