The stock market jumped on Thursday, with broad-based gains in most major market benchmarks and new all-time record highs for the Dow and S&P 500. Even though the big news came from the European Central Bank, favorable economic conditions in the U.S. also seemed to bolster investor spirits today following some concerns in recent days about the sustainability of the bull market. Even with the gains, though, Zynga (ZNGA), RCS Capital (NYSE: RCAP), and Rite Aid (RAD 20.00%) missed out on the upward moves in the market and fell sharply in yesterday's trading.
Source: Zynga.
Zynga fell 9% as investors in the social video-game specialist reacted negatively to a presentation from company CEO Don Mattrick yesterday. Zynga has done its best to present its strategic vision in broad brushstrokes in order to reassure investors that its best days of growth aren't behind it. But shareholders are growing impatient at the lack of specifics on whether new blockbuster games or other offerings will drive those improved results looking forward. Given the long decline in Zynga's share price over the past several years, the gaming company might well be running out of time to execute a turnaround before shareholders give up on the once-promising stock once and for all.
RCS Capital dropped 10% after the brokerage-services company announced the pricing for a secondary stock offering. RCS Capital and its controlling shareholder offered 24 million shares at $20.25 per share, which was more than 10% below where the stock closed Wednesday. What's particularly troubling is that the company was willing to sell at such a low price after seeing the shares cut almost in half over just the past few months. The next few weeks will be a critical time for RCS Capital, as investors will have to wait and see whether the stock can stay above the offering price or remains below it pending further word on what acquisitions or other uses RCS Capital finds for the proceeds.
Rite Aid declined 7% after the drugstore chain lowered its earnings guidance for the 2015 fiscal year. Citing higher costs for drugs and reductions in the amount of reimbursements it received, Rite Aid cut its forecast range by $0.01 to $0.02, with earnings in its just-concluded May quarter also expected to fall from year-ago levels. Still, the drugstore's same-store sales rose 3.5% in the month of May on strength in pharmacy sales, pointing to the ongoing turnaround that investors have enjoyed from Rite Aid's business. In the eyes of many investors, though, it'll take a lot more improvement to justify the share-price gains that Rite Aid has already seen.
