Many investors had started to feel as though March would continue February's doldrums, with bond yields rising and worries about inflationary pressures increasing. Yet Friday brought much-needed relief to the market, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.40%) picking up more than 250 points by mid-afternoon and other major market benchmarks rising more than 1%.
Still, even on a strong day, a few stocks missed the boat. Marvell Technology (MRVL 3.17%) failed to deliver on the promise of matching the performance of some of its semiconductor stock peers, while Bumble (BMBL -0.57%) saw some key investors resort to selling some of their shares at a fairly inopportune time. You'll find more about the details below.
Marvell posts a mixed quarter
Marvell Technology shares fell 7% in early afternoon trading on Friday. The semiconductor chip maker reported fiscal fourth-quarter results from the period ending Jan. 28 that didn't inspire confidence in its investors.
Marvell's quarterly numbers showed the impact of sluggishness across the semiconductor industry. Revenue of $1.42 billion was up 6% from year-ago levels, but it was down by nearly $120 million from its sales of three months ago. Moreover, Marvell posted a modest loss that reversed a modest profit in the year-ago period, although adjusted earnings of $0.46 per share were more encouraging.
Yet investors didn't like Marvell's guidance. The chipmaker projected sales of between $1.235 billion and $1.365 billion, which would imply a considerable drop sequentially from the just-completed quarter. Marvell also expects to lose money before accounting adjustments, and even adjusted earnings of $0.24 to $0.34 per share would be a step down from the end of the previous fiscal year.
Worst of all, shareholders seemed to pick up on uncertainty in the post-release conference call about whether Marvell will see conditions become more favorable later in 2023. Many investors have counted on a broader second-half recovery for the economy to support share prices, but if Marvell doesn't see improvement in the industry by then, it would be a shock to market participants across the semiconductor space.
Bumble's founder looks to raise some money
Elsewhere, shares of mobile-dating specialist Bumble were down 9%. The company's stock has lost about two-thirds of its value from its early 2021 highs immediately after its initial public offering (IPO), but that didn't stop Bumble from turning to the capital markets to raise some cash.
Late Thursday, Bumble announced that some of its selling shareholders had started a secondary offering of 12.5 million shares of stock. Bumble itself isn't offering any shares, but investors affiliated with founder Whitney Wolfe Herd and institutional investing company Blackstone (BX -0.03%) were behind the move.
After going through standard practices in seeking interest in the offering, Bumble said early Friday that the offering had priced at $22.80 per share. That was down sharply from the $24.54 price at which the stock closed Thursday, indicating just how much the Bumble founder and Blackstone were willing to give up in order to sell shares.
Bumble has struggled since its initial public offering even though many believe that it has key advantages over competitors that should weigh in its favor. Nevertheless, when a founder appears to have lost confidence in a company, it's hard to ask shareholders to keep the faith any longer. That's the challenge that Bumble will face as it moves forward.
