What Happened in the Stock Market Today

Stocks opened lower on Tuesday and never managed to break into positive territory during the trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.98%) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.46%) indexes both fell by half a percentage point to take a small step back from record highs:

Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

In economic news, the housing market showed continued strength, with July starts rising 2% to reach a 1.21 million unit annual pace, according to fresh data out on Tuesday morning. Economists had been looking for a softer housing reading around 1.18 million annual home starts.

Meanwhile, stocks making big moves on Tuesday included Hain Celestial (HAIN -1.30%) and Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS -0.62%).

Hain Celestial delays its financial results

Organic and natural food specialist Hain Celestial saw its stock plummet by 26% on 30 times its daily trading volume after announcing that an accounting review will delay its Q4 financial result filings. Executives said that the issues they recently found are limited to the timing of certain revenue -- and not whether or not the figures were over-reported. "The Company expects that any potential changes in the timing of the recognition of revenue...should not impact the total amount of revenue ultimately recognized," management said in a press release. However, Hain Celestial is also evaluating its overall financial reporting controls, which leaves the door open for a broadening scope to this financial audit.

Image source: Hain Celestial.

The company also withdrew its guidance from early May that projected a 10% sales gain to $3 billion and profits increasing 8% to roughly $2.02 per share for the fiscal year that ended on June 30. Executives didn't specify which of its financial targets will fall short -- or by how much. They simply stated that management "does not expect to achieve its previously announced guidance for fiscal year 2016."

Wall Street ran away from the stock in light of the new accounting concerns, which could turn out to be much milder than feared. Yet I still wouldn't jump into shares right now -- at least not until it's clear that the company's financial reporting is dependable.

Dick's Sporting Goods wins market share

Dick's Sporting Goods' stock jumped 7% to a new high as its second-quarter earnings report showed surprising sales growth. The retailer benefited from the recent bankruptcy of rivals like Sports Authority as market share gains pushed comparable-store sales up by 3%. In contrast, management three months ago had forecast a comps decline of as much as 4%.

Image source: Getty Images.

Dick's also executed well online, with digital revenue jumping by more than a percentage point to 9% of sales. Gross profit margin held steady at 30% of sales and inventory grew at a healthy 6% pace. "We are pleased with our second-quarter results, particularly in light of the liquidation activity in the market," CEO Edward Stack said in a press release.

The retailer boosted both its revenue and profit outlook for the year and now sees comps growing by 3% (compared to the prior target of zero growth). Earnings are expected to rise to about $3 per share -- or 6% above last year's result.

While the improving outlook is good news, it's unclear how much of it will be just a short-term gain from consolidation among sporting goods rivals. The industry is still under pressure from declining overall demand, and so Dick's long-term growth will depend on its ability to capture the market share that's now up for grabs and then hold onto it against competition from online rivals.