Wall Street suffered a mild drop on Friday, although losses were relatively small. Major benchmarks were generally down less than 0.2% as investors coasted into the weekend on a quiet note. Larger moves downward in the currency and energy markets caused some nervousness among market participants, but a relatively balanced slate of earnings reports from U.S. companies kept stocks from moving too far in one direction. Shares of some companies, however, suffered fairly large declines on Friday, and Autoliv (ALV 1.69%), Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM +0.00%), and Barnes & Noble Education (BNED +2.04%) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.
Autoliv gets unbuckled
Shares of Autoliv dropped 8% after the Swedish maker of automotive safety systems reported tepid results for the second quarter of 2017. The company said that organic sales were up just 0.2%, falling below the company's guidance for 2% growth, and guidance for the third quarter also reflected sluggish vehicle production volumes in North America and China. CEO Jan Carlson was still pleased about the company's execution in the passive safety market, and Autoliv is excited about new strategic agreements with technology providers to move forward with self-driving technologies and active-safety electronics. Yet coming after a very strong performance in the first quarter, investors had hoped that Autoliv would do a better job of sustaining momentum.
Image source: Autoliv.
Maxim disappoints on a poor outlook
Maxim Integrated Products stock was down 6% in the wake of the company's fiscal fourth-quarter financial report. The semiconductor chipmaker said that adjusted earnings rose more than expected, and it announced a 9% dividend increase, pushing Maxim's yield above the 3% mark. Yet revenue didn't measure up to the consensus forecast among those following the stock, and Maxim's guidance for the current quarter suffered from a projected downturn in demand from its smartphone business. Maxim's strong reputation as a dividend stock is rare for a technology company, but the chipmaker will need to get its fundamental business to grow faster in order to reassure investors of its long-term upward trajectory.
Barnes & Noble Education gets a new CEO
Finally, Barnes & Noble Education lost 5%, giving up modest gains from yesterday's session. The college bookstore specialist said early Thursday that Michael Huseby will replace outgoing CEO Max Roberts, who intends to retire in September. Huseby intends to keep moving forward with B&N Education's growth strategy by "executing on our mission to improve academic outcomes with our comprehensive offering of relevant and affordable products, high-touch services, and innovative learning platforms." Yet with Huseby having served previously as CEO of B&N Education's former parent company, some shareholders apparently thought twice about the new chief executive's ability to come up with the groundbreaking solutions that might be necessary to sustain the college bookstore company's competitive position in a tough industry.
