Wednesday brought some holiday cheer to Wall Street, as investors got out of the gloomy mood on hopes that their initial fears about a prolonged trade war between the U.S. and China might prove to have been overblown. Some reports suggested that the two nations might be closer to an early deal than previously thought, and cyclically sensitive markets like energy and bonds responded accordingly. However, several companies took the opportunity to raise capital by selling shares, sending their stock prices lower. Dynatrace (DT 1.56%), Revance Therapeutics (RVNC 0.55%), and Immunomedics (IMMU) were among the worst performers. Here's why they did so poorly.
Early Dynatrace investors cash out
Shares of Dynatrace dropped more than 7% after the software intelligence specialist announced that it would do a follow-on offering of stock by some of the company's early shareholders. Under the offering, investors will sell 27.5 million shares, with underwriters having their usual option to purchase an additional 15%, or 4.125 million shares, for their own accounts. The downward move signals concerns that an exit by early shareholders could indicate a lack of confidence in the enterprise software company's future. Yet longtime Dynatrace shareholders won't be too upset with the downward move, because the stock is still up more than 50% from its IPO price back in August.
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Revance gets some cash
Biotech neuromodulator specialist Revance Therapeutics saw its stock plunge nearly 18% following the pricing of its previously announced secondary offering. Revance said it had sold 6.5 million shares at $17 per share, giving it $110.5 million in proceeds before deducting fees associated with the underwriting. The company wants to use the money to commercialize its DAXI botulism injection, which it hopes will compete favorably against Botox in the aesthetics market. But final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could take a year or more, and that meant that Revance needed to raise capital in order to ensure it could go the distance with its commercialization efforts.
Immunomedics looks to sell stock
Finally, shares of Immunomedics fell 5%. The maker of candidate metastatic breast cancer drug sacituzumab govitecan said that it would sell $250 million in common stock, with the intent of using the proceeds to help it ready the treatment more quickly for a potential commercial launch. The FDA has looked at sacituzumab in the past, and its decision not to approve it centered more on manufacturing challenges than on clinical efficacy. Many investors have been optimistic about Immunomedics, but shareholders still aren't happy about the possibility of dilution even if things go well for the drug company and its candidate treatment.
