Why Did My Stock Just Die?

Your stock just took a nosedive -- but don't panic. First, let's see whether it had good reason to fall. Sometimes, panic-fueled drops can make excellent buying opportunities. Here's the latest crop of cratered stocks that could provide a possibility for profit:

The bears grabbed the market reins Thursday as jobless claims surged unexpectedly higher, making it four down days in a row. The euphoria that momentarily existed over the demise of the world's No. 1 terrorist was quickly replaced by renewed worries about the economy. Stocks tumbled 139 points, or 1.1%, so stocks that went down by even larger percentages are pretty big deals.

The devil's in the details
The market kicked boot maker Timberland to the curb for missing analyst expectations by a mile. Where Wall Street had been anticipating $0.52 per share in earnings, Timberland came in at a measly $0.35 as costs for leather, labor, and transportation stomped on revenues that grew 10% over the year-ago period.

It was a bit of a surprise outcome considering other footwear makers, like Deckers Outdoor (Nasdaq: DECK), beat expectations despite facing the same sort of higher costs. Deckers' costs of goods sold surged 31% in the quarter, but sheepskin apparently isn't as costly as leather. Skechers (NYSE: SKX) remains burdened by high inventory levels of its toning shoe, which is proving to be a fad not a trend. It also was hit by higher costs in the face of falling sales.

When a stock falls as fast and hard as Timberland did, it's bound to rouse sentiment that the move was an overreaction, and CAPS member portastatic is looking to capture the rebound: "fire sale when there is no real fire. this drop after earnings looks like a chance to pick up a few shares ata discount."

You can add Timberland to your watchlist and let us know on the Timberland CAPS page whether there's room for it to fall further.

Cracks in the foundation
Gout might be the disease of kings, but treating it delivered anything but a princely outcome for drugmaker Savient Pharmaceuticals. After a rocky road to market, Savient launched Krystexxa in March amid high hopes, but sales did not get a royal welcome. It generated only $300,000 and one analyst downgraded the stock saying Savient misjudged the market for its medicine. Rather than the hundreds of thousands of patients it estimated would stand in line for the drug, the analyst thinks there might be just 60,000 patients.

The lackluster performance could make it difficult for Savient to sell itself. It had tried to do that one time before, with thoughts that Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) or Bristol-Myers Squibb might bite. When that failed, Krystexxa was seen as the thing that would lure them in. Now that disappointing sales sent the stock to the guillotine, potential suitors might just say "let them eat cake!" And laying the blame on a miscoding for Medicare reimbursement hardly inspires confidence that there is as much demand as first thought.

With 92% of the CAPS members rating Savient thinking it will still beat the market, they're obviously giving the drugmaker more than a month to prove itself. Let us know in the comments section below if you think Savient is savvy enough to prevail, and add the stock to your watchlist to see whether Krystexxa will be its crowning achievement.

Not taking flight
The market also went postal on shares of Aeropostale for its threadbare performance this quarter. The teen-oriented retailer said that same-store sales from February to April fell 7% from a year ago, a time when it had experienced an 8% increase. While Gap also fell, one-time ne'er-do-well Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) actually saw its numbers jump 10% with total revenues climbing 22% year over year.

The results are again proving how fickle teen tastes in fashion are. What's old is new again, and retailers that kids wouldn't touch a year ago are suddenly the must-have couture.

But CAPS member pbk100 thinks the market fashionistas are out of season when it comes to Aeropostale's stock:

This isn't a company on it's way out - there's no debt problem that could blow the company up, there's no loss of brand image - most retailers in the same market are experiencing the same thing, a temporary drop due to the state of the economy - which will improve.

Try on some of the other opinions on the Aeropostale CAPS page and see if they fit your own thinking.

Ready for a resurrection
Just because your stock has taken a beating doesn't mean it's going to roll over and die. Markets are known for overreacting. A closer look on Motley Fool CAPS at what's happened to your stock can give you an edge over other investors who just react to the market's lead. You can decide for yourself whether it's ready to come back from the dead.