This week has been disastrous for the stock market as investors have tried to wrap their heads around the short-term impacts and long-term implications from the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide. After yesterday's 10% drop, investors hoped for some respite, and at least for a couple of hours, they got it. As of noon EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.63%) was up 241 points to 21,442. The S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.16%) rose 28 points to 2,508, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.65%) gained 58 points to climb to 7,260.
The falling stock market hasn't stopped companies from providing their financial reports, but it has cast some of what companies have to say in a different light. Slack Technologies (WORK) saw its stock drop significantly following what seemed on the surface to be a reasonably solid set of results. Meanwhile, Tilray (TLRY) kept seeing the same slump that has hit marijuana stocks for a while, with a capital-raising move largely to blame for the share price decline.
Slacking off
Shares of Slack Technologies were down 23% after the workplace collaboration specialist reported its fourth-quarter financial results. Even with sustained growth, shareholders weren't satisfied with Slack's near-term outlook.
Image source: Slack Technologies.
Slack's numbers were impressive. Revenue in the fourth quarter jumped 49% from year-earlier levels, closing a year in which sales climbed an even more impressive 57% year over year. The company now has 70 customers that bring in more than $1 million in annual recurring revenue each, which is up from less than 40 this time last year. Almost 900 of Slack's 110,000 paying customers spend at least $100,000 every year on the service now, which is up by more than half from levels 12 months ago.
Yet Slack's views of what the coming fiscal year will look like were muted at best. The service expects first-quarter revenue growth of 37% to 39%, with full-year fiscal 2021 gains coming in between 34% and 37%. That's a significant slowdown, and Slack also sees itself continuing to lose money even on an adjusted basis throughout the coming year.
It's highly possible that Slack's projections will prove overly conservative, especially as more workplaces look seriously at letting their employees work remotely. Nevertheless, the downward move is consistent with investors demanding not only strong revenue gains but also profit in order to win their approval.
A bad time for a secondary offering
Shares of Tilray slumped 26% Friday morning as investors responded to the latest capital move from the cannabis company. The worst time to raise cash is when markets are going through turbulence, and the low price at which new investors were willing to buy shares points to the challenges Tilray faces.
Tilray sold 7.25 million shares, 11.75 million pre-funded warrants, and 19 million additional warrants. Investors paid $4.76 to receive one share of Tilray stock plus a warrant to purchase stock at some point between September 2020 and March 2025 for $5.95 per share. Alternatively, some investors paid a similar amount to receive a pre-funded warrant exercisable at a nominal price along with a standard warrant.
The offering price was far below the $5.95 per share closing price for Tilray stock Thursday afternoon. Moreover, it's down significantly from the more than $20 per share that Tilray fetched as recently as mid-January.
Tilray has faced its share of problems in the marijuana market, as its revenue in the fourth quarter actually fell from third-quarter levels. Without a major partner to help it with funding, Tilray had no choice but to turn to the market for financing -- even at a hefty cost to existing shareholders.
