Friday was another down day on Wall Street, with major market benchmarks falling more than 1% following the Trump administration's decision to implement new tariffs against Mexico. The news capped a month in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost roughly 1,750 points and investors have dramatically reassessed the likelihood of the U.S. economy falling back into recession. Even amid the carnage, some stocks took bigger hits than others. Constellation Brands (STZ +0.18%), Gap (GPS +0.97%), and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB +3.37%) were among the worst performers. Here's why they did so poorly.
Every time tariffs rise, a Corona loses its lime
Shares of Constellation Brands dropped 6% as investors reacted to the likely impact of Mexican tariffs on the beer company's business. Constellation is known best for its Corona and Modelo beer brands, which it imports from Mexico and which therefore would potentially be subject to the tariffs announced today. Recently, those brands had been doing far better than many of their U.S. counterparts, helping Constellation outperform its beer-selling peers. Yet with the new pressure on its core business and a 4.5% drop in the value of its marijuana stock holding Canopy Growth also weighing on the company, Constellation could face a long hangover.
Image source: Constellation Brands.
Shareholders fall into the Gap
The Gap saw its stock fall nearly 10% after the apparel retailer reported abysmal results in its first-quarter financial report. Comparable sales declined 4% from year-ago levels, with negative results at all three of its store concepts, including Old Navy, Banana Republic, and the namesake Gap stores. Guidance for the full year was equally dreary, with a cut to the earnings outlook and new projections for a low-single-digit percentage drop in comps. Some investors have looked forward to Gap breaking itself up into two separate public companies, and CEO Art Peck said he still expects that to happen in 2020. In the meantime, though, Gap isn't navigating the expected transition as well as shareholders had hoped.
Red Robin earnings: More "um" than "yum"
Finally, shares of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers plummeted 17%. The burger restaurant chain said that its first-quarter financial results were poor, including a 3% drop in total revenue and a 70% plunge in adjusted earnings per share. Comparable-restaurant sales fell 3.3% on even weaker traffic figures, and interim CEO Pattye Moore said that despite seeing progress on several strategic priorities, "there is still much work to be done on the turnaround." Until Red Robin can find a permanent chief executive and move forward with more urgency on major initiatives like its refranchising efforts, it'll be hard for the stock to recover the 70%-plus it's lost over the last four years.
