Wednesday was a disappointment for many stock market investors, as the Dow Jones Industrials didn't quite manage to get across the 20,000 mark. The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow all fell back from previous high levels, with losses of just a quarter-percent or less showing the generally quiet trading activity during the pre-holiday week. Contributing to the downward pressure on the market Wednesday were several individual stocks that had negative news hitting their share prices. Finish Line (FINL), Chemours (CC 0.22%), and TripAdvisor (TRIP 4.36%) were among the biggest decliners on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.
Image source: Finish Line.
Finish Line loses the race
Finish Line dropped 9% after the shoe and athletic apparel retailer reported disappointing earnings in its third-quarter financial report. The retailer's comparable store sales climbed just 0.7%, and a 3% rise in overall revenue wasn't enough to offset an adjusted loss of $0.24 per share. CEO Sam Sato pointed to big drops in Finish Line's apparel and accessories business, which outweighed the positive impact of a one-third rise in sales related to the company's partnership with department-store retailer Macy's (M -0.22%). Finish Line also said that it expects comps to be down 3% to 5% for the current holiday quarter, with downbeat adjusted earnings guidance of $0.68 to $0.73 per share. Unless things turn out better than expected, investors won't be happy with Finish Line's end to the current fiscal year.
Chemours gets a nasty surprise
Chemours fell almost 7% in the wake of news that former parent DuPont (DD) was found liable in a civil lawsuit related to allegations of toxic chemical exposure. A federal court case in Ohio included assertions that chemicals used in the production of the popular Teflon coating leaked from one of DuPont's plants, and a jury issued a $2 million verdict to a plaintiff who suffers from testicular cancer. The jury's findings also opened the door to a potential added award of punitive damages. The problem for Chemours is that as a condition of DuPont's spinoff of the chemical company, Chemours has agreed to cover the cost of such lawsuits. Investors will keep a close eye on these and similar cases to see if the problem becomes as bad as some currently fear.
TripAdvisor gives back its gains
Finally, TripAdvisor declined 5%. The online travel review and service specialist had jumped by a similar amount on Monday after announcing that it would collaborate with Expedia (EXPE 0.12%) to expand its hotel inventory on TripAdvisor's instant-booking platform. Market participants saw that as good news, as it increased the chances that TripAdvisor's platform would be able to reach its full capacity. However, even yesterday, some commentators noted that instant booking is a mixed blessing for TripAdvisor, as it diverts some users away from services that TripAdvisor offers that are more profitable for the company. To be a net winner, TripAdvisor has to hope that adding Expedia inventory will pull more users in through the door, enabling it to convert them to internally provided services in the future to boost sales and earnings growth.
