The stock market moved up on Friday, with major indexes seeing modest gains to finish the week. A generally positive earnings season is coming to a close, and investors are turning their attention to broader macroeconomic and geopolitical issues in trying to determine the ideal investment strategy after a strong start to 2018. Despite good conditions across the market, some individual stocks had bad news that left them on the sidelines of the rally. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA -1.33%), 3D Systems (DDD -0.86%), and ImmunoGen (IMGN) were among the worst performers. Here's why they did so poorly.
Check out the latest earnings call transcript for Walgreens, 3D Systems, and ImmunoGen.
Walgreens deals with drug deflation threats
Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance dropped more than 6% following downbeat comments from the drugstore chain company's chief financial officer. CFO James Kehoe spoke at a global healthcare conference after the market closed on Thursday, making comments about the potential impact of reduced reimbursements and general pressure to keep drug prices lower on the drugstore business. Walgreens has taken steps to reduce expenses in an effort to protect the bottom line, and those actions have made a difference. Yet shareholders still need to watch closely to ensure that new regulations or legislation won't hurt Walgreens as much as some currently fear.
Image source: Walgreens.
3D Systems leaves investors wanting more
3D Systems saw its stock drop 14% after the 3D-printing specialist reported its fourth-quarter financial results. The company said that revenue was higher by 2% from the year-ago period, helped by printer unit sales that more than doubled from year-earlier levels. Adjusted earnings doubled from the fourth quarter of 2017 due largely to tax reform measures. CEO Vyomesh Joshi saw growth across the business, with interest in using both plastics and metals for printing and increased demand from the healthcare and software industries. Yet industry conditions for the 3D printing market remain sluggish at best, and it'll take more work for 3D Systems to fully turn itself around.
ImmunoGen faces poor trial results
Finally, shares of ImmunoGen plunged 47%. The antibody-drug conjugate specialist reported the latest results from a phase 3 trial investigating the ovarian cancer treatment mirvetuximab soravtansine, and the conclusions were disappointing. The drug failed to meet the primary endpoint of the study: progression-free survival in the entire study population or in certain subsets of ovarian cancer patients. The company hopes further analysis could yield some helpful hints about potential next steps for mirvetuximab soravtansine's development, and it does have cash on hand to fund its efforts. Nevertheless, the news was a huge setback, and ImmunoGen will have to work hard to salvage what it can from the treatment.
