The stock market was largely lower on Thursday, as investors worried about the prospects of a favorable resolution to trade discussions between the U.S. and China. Major indexes were down 1% or more, and some saw the downturn as potentially marking the end of the early 2019 rebound in preparation for a return to the lows of late 2018. Yet at least for some companies, good news lifted share prices substantially. Hanesbrands (HBI -8.03%), iRobot (IRBT 0.58%), and HealthEquity (HQY -0.20%) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.
Check out the latest Hanesbrands, iRobot, and HealthEquity earnings call transcripts.
Hanesbrands celebrates the holidays
Shares of Hanesbrands jumped 20% after the apparel maker reported its fourth-quarter financial results. The company said that revenue climbed 7% on strong results in the activewear segment, and international sales were especially robust. Hanesbrands also made some progress on boosting profit margin, in part due to favorable acquisitions and partially from finding new sources of organic growth. Guidance for 2019 was generally promising as well, and shareholders are pleased that Hanesbrands has made so much progress in promoting premium brands like Champion to generate more buzz for its products.
Image source: Hanesbrands.
iRobot cleans up
iRobot stock picked up nearly 10% following the robotic vacuum manufacturer's fourth-quarter financial report. The company said that sales jumped by 24% from year-earlier levels, and it managed to overcome tariff-related expense pressures to boost net income more than fivefold over the fourth quarter of 2017. Demand for the i7 and i7+ models of its Roomba vacuums was extremely strong over the holiday period, especially in Japan, and projections for 2019 sales and earnings were equally encouraging. With its intent to develop a wider range of products, including the Terra autonomous lawn mower, iRobot hopes to make even more progress in the years to come.
HealthEquity has never looked healthier
Finally, shares of HealthEquity rose almost 9%. The provider of financial services connected with health savings accounts reported that assets under its custody jumped 19% in the year that ended Jan. 31 to $8.1 billion, with the company counting 17% more members under its umbrella of services during the period, approaching the 4 million mark. CEO Jon Kessler was pleased with HealthEquity's success in attracting almost 675,000 new HSAs even excluding acquisitions, and members added $1.3 billion in custodial assets despite turbulent market conditions. Health savings accounts can be extremely useful, and HealthEquity hopes to keep profiting from making the HSA opportunity more readily available to those who can benefit from it the most.
