The S&P 500 finished last week flat at 1,101.6, in the midst of the second-quarter report that showed that growth is slowing, strong corporate earnings, and comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard that the U.S. could be susceptible to a Japanese-deflation-style malaise. In contrast, for the month, the S&P registered its best monthly performance since July 2009, rising 6.9%, but on low volume.
Pops and drops
Here are the five biggest increases and five biggest drops on the S&P 500 last week (measured Friday close to Friday close):
Winners:
|
Company |
Percentage Gain |
|---|---|
|
QEP Resources |
17.6% |
|
Citrix Systems |
15% |
|
Wyndham Worldwide |
12.4% |
|
CB Richard Ellis Group |
11.9% |
|
Interpublic Group of Companies |
11.7% |
Source: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's).
Losers:
|
Company |
Percentage Loss |
|---|---|
|
MEMC Electronic Materials |
(18.2%) |
|
Eastman Kodak |
(18.1%) |
|
LSI |
(16.9%) |
|
Akamai Technologies |
(14.9%) |
|
Symantec |
(14.6%) |
Source: Capital IQ.
A closer look
Citrix was a big winner last week after management raised its third-quarter and full-year revenue forecasts in light of strong bookings for the company's virtualization software. The revenue outlook overshadowed weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings and triggered a slew of analyst upgrades from Cowen, Baird, Citigroup, and Raymond James. Three out of the four analysts increased their price targets, citing growth expectations for the virtualization market, as accelerating demand from new and existing clients takes hold.
On the flip side, shares of Eastman Kodak sank last week after the company reported a wider-than-expected loss and lower revenue (down 11%) because of a weak film unit. A decline in demand for film used in Hollywood movies and video advertisements, coupled with the rise of digital film and 3-D, weighed on the imaging technology company. Analysts are looking for signs that Kodak's digital business will make money soon amid a long transition to digital from the antiquated film business. The quarterly report showed Kodak's digital business isn't offsetting the decline in the film business yet. Company executives said they expect the rate of decline in the entertainment imaging film unit to be larger than previously anticipated. Still, they maintained their outlook for the year.
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