Thursday was another relatively calm day on Wall Street, with most major benchmarks easing very slightly lower. Fears about Washington scandals and trade tensions between the U.S. and China weighed on enthusiasm over a strong U.S. economy as economists and policymakers met in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the Federal Reserve's annual symposium to discuss economic prospects across the globe. At a more granular level, some companies suffered from downbeat news that sent their share prices lower. IAMGOLD (IAG -2.96%), Hertz Global Holdings (HTZG.Q), and La-Z-Boy (LZB -1.02%) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.
IAMGOLD deals with tough conditions
Shares of IAMGOLD fell 7% on a difficult day across the gold mining industry. Prices of the yellow precious metal have been under pressure lately, and a $10 drop to around $1,185 per ounce has started to eat dramatically into profit margin figures for many producers around the world. For IAMGOLD in particular, high all-in sustaining costs of more than $1,000 per ounce in both 2016 and 2017 make it especially vulnerable to further price deterioration for gold bullion, especially with some larger players in the industry sporting costs closer to the $800-$900 range. Unless gold prices can bounce back, IAMGOLD will have a tough time rebounding from the more-than-30% decline it's suffered so far this year.
Image source: IAMGOLD.
Hertz keeps dropping
Hertz Global Holdings stock declined 8% as investors finally responded negatively to some of the changes that the rental car giant has seen recently. Earlier this week, CFO Thomas Kennedy resigned, prompting Hertz to replace him by appointing Jamere Jackson to be its new chief financial officer. Yet what's more likely the cause of today's decline is more general concern about the sustainability of Hertz's long-term turnaround efforts. Hertz's second-quarter financial report early this month was encouraging, but the company is still losing money, and tepid revenue growth points to the continued challenges from ride-sharing and other alternatives. Until Hertz returns to profitability, some investors will remain wary.
La-Z-Boy gives back some ground
Finally, shares of La-Z-Boy dropped 10%. The move today essentially gave back nearly all of the furniture maker's gains from Wednesday, which had stemmed from strong fiscal first-quarter financial results. An 8% sales rise helped send La-Z-Boy's bottom line up more than 60% from year-earlier levels, and a combination of smart acquisitions and encouraging fundamental business conditions should help to sustain future growth. Yet today, the stock suffered a downgrade from analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets, who cut their rating on La-Z-Boy from overweight to sector weight and pointed to possible Chinese tariffs as a threat going forward. Time will tell, but after having soared to all-time highs, the stock might have gotten ahead of itself -- at least in the short term.
