Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
Even the Veterans Day holiday wasn't enough to keep the Dow Jones Industrials from setting another record high, as stocks continued their run of advances in light of a generally favorable earnings season. But Cirrus Logic (CRUS 0.67%), 8x8 (EGHT -1.46%), and FirstEnergy (FE 0.42%) all fell more than 5% despite the broader market's positive sentiment. Let's look more closely at each of these stocks to see why they fell today.
Cirrus Logic dropped 14% on reports that the latest version of the popular iPad tablet doesn't include the component-supplier's audio amplifiers. Although Cirrus still has some presence in the iPad Air as well as the iPhone 5c, its traditional reliance on Apple has left it extremely vulnerable to any shifts that the tech giant makes in choosing suppliers. Cirrus still gets the lion's share of its revenue from its relationship with Apple, and shareholders can expect volatility in either direction whenever new Apple products become available.
8x8 posted a 7% decline after two key pieces of news. The enterprise voice-over-Internet telecom company agreed to buy Voicenet Solutions, broadening its reach in the U.K. to further 8x8's international expansion plans. What likely pushed shares down, though, was 8x8's decision to issue a secondary stock offering. At current prices, the offering will likely raise about $125 million, but shareholders reacted naturally to the likelihood of getting diluted by the 12.5 million to 14.4 million shares that could come onto the market.
FirstEnergy fell 6% as rating agency Moody's chose not to upgrade its outlook on the utility company's bond rating, which currently stands at the lowest investment-grade level of Baa3. Although Moody's praised the company's decision to use equity more extensively to raise capital, it still kept its negative outlook. If FirstEnergy were to fall to junk status, it could see dramatically higher interest costs in the long run, something the utility company doesn't need to deal with in the wake of damage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy last year.