Major benchmarks gave up ground on Tuesday amid investor pessimism about geopolitical conditions. Between possible impeachment proceedings and the potential for new escalation in trade disputes between the U.S. and China, market participants were in no hurry to send indexes toward their old all-time highs. Adding to the gloom was bad news from some key individual companies. BlackBerry (BB +3.62%), Tesla (TSLA +2.96%), and Lyft (LYFT +1.53%) were among the worst performers. Here's why they did so poorly.
BlackBerry takes a hit
Shares of BlackBerry plunged nearly 23% after the mobile device pioneer reported its second-quarter financial results. In some ways, BlackBerry looked strong, with adjusted revenue climbing 22% and break-even earnings results that were better than many had expected. Yet it also warned that revenue growth wouldn't be as strong going forward as previously expected. Despite positive comments from CEO John Chen, many seem worried that the tech company won't be able to produce success merely by concentrating on the software and services offerings that make up nearly all of its revenue currently.
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Tesla deals with controversy
Elsewhere, Tesla stock fell 7.5%. A set of Tesla shareholders filed suit against the company, alleging through derivative shareholder action that Tesla's board breached its fiduciary duties by approving the acquisition of solar specialist SolarCity. CEO Elon Musk was criticized for allegedly supporting the purchase, which some saw as a convenient bailout that was well-timed to help save the failing solar installer. At this point, Tesla investors pay far more attention to its core electric vehicle business than to the acquired SolarCity operations. However, for a company that's seen plenty of controversy in the past, one more issue to deal with is far from welcome.
Lyft helps its rivals
Finally, shares of Lyft finished down almost 8%. The ride-hailing company made a concession to some of its critics, deciding to change its app to include alternative modes of transportation beyond Lyft vehicles. The new app will include bike-sharing, rental cars, and public transportation, and allow users to compare costs across those options. It'll take until early next year to integrate all of this information into the app, but investors already fear that the move will detract from the value of the Lyft network and eventually adversely affect how much the company is able to make in revenue and profit.
