Major benchmarks were mixed on Thursday as investors dug deep into a fresh batch of quarterly reports.
Some individual stocks fared far worse than the broader market, however. Read on to learn why Mattel (MAT -3.88%), Mohawk Industries (MHK -2.15%), and Nielsen Holdings (NLSN) each fell hard today.
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2,200 job cuts? Mattel isn't playing around
Shares of Mattel fell 4.2% after the toymaker announced second-quarter 2018 results. Revenue dropped 13.7% year over year, or 11% in constant currency, to $840.7 million, primarily driven by the recent liquidation of Toys R Us. On the bottom line, that translated to an adjusted loss of $0.56 per share, including $0.14 per share in restructuring and severance expenses. Analysts were expecting a narrower net loss of $0.30 per share on revenue of $851.8 million.
Mattel also announced it will sell its manufacturing sites in Mexico and eliminate more than 2,200 positions, representing around 22% of its global non-manufacturing workforce.
"Mattel is a company with great potential," stated Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz. "While the industry is evolving, the toy market continues to grow, and we should be able to reverse our own trends given our strong standing and the quality of our assets."
Mohawk shares get a buzzcut
Mohawk Industries stock plunged 17.5% in the wake of the flooring manufacturer's Q2 report. Revenue climbed 5% (3% in constant currency) to $2.577 billion, while adjusted net income fell 6% to $263 million, or $3.51 per share. Most investors were anticipating earnings of $3.90 per share on revenue of $2.6 billion.
Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lorberbaum conceded their results were below expectations, adding that the company is taking actions to improve its U.S. businesses.
"With the overall economy, our results were negatively impacted by input inflation, higher transportation costs, a stronger dollar and a tight labor market," Lorberbaum added. "We were also affected by changing product mix, timing of price increases, lower production units, start-up of new projects and the delayed Godfrey Hirst closing."
Mohawk promised to combat these headwinds by raising prices and increasing focus on its growing channels, new products, and new geographies.
Nielsen disappoints investors
Finally, poor second-quarter results sent shares of ratings-measurement specialist Nielsen plummeting 25.2%. Quarterly revenue grew 0.6% year over year to $1.647 billion, while adjusted earnings dropped by nearly half to $0.20 per share. Consensus estimates called for far higher earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $1.71 billion.
CFO Jamere Jackson explained that Nielsen "continued to move forward" in its multiyear effort to transform each of its business segments, but admitted the company's "progress was not reflected in our financial results, which are disappointing and came in below our expectations."
In addition, Nielsen announced an "in-depth strategic review" of its "Buy" segment -- perhaps a sign that it will either restructure or divest that portion of the business -- but declined to offer specifics or a timetable for the review.
In a separate press release, Nielsen also announced that CEO Mitch Barnes will retire at the end of this year, and that the company is searching for his successor.
Nielsen also reduced its 2018 guidance to call for revenue to decline 1% year over year (compared to 3% growth previously) and for GAAP net income per share of $0.95 to $1.00 (down from $1.50 to $1.56 before).
