On Monday, the S&P 500 and Dow set new record closes, with solid advances throughout the market as many beaten-down momentum stocks bounced back from their recent lows. Yet even as overall enthusiasm bubbled throughout the stock market, Universal Display (OLED +1.43%), Core Laboratories (CLB +0.00%), and Bridgepoint Education (BPI +0.00%) closed the day with substantial losses on the session.
Source: Universal Display.
Universal Display ended a roller-coaster session down 7%. The maker of organic LED technology had initially risen in follow-through buying after a solid earnings report last Thursday night, which included a better than 150% jump in revenue and an unexpectedly strong profit that tripled what investors had expected to see. Yet a few analysts have downgraded or reduced their price targets on the stock in recent days, and bearish investors are concerned that Universal Display might not get the follow-through from its potential display-manufacturer customers that shareholders are counting on. In any event, the decline gives back only a portion of Friday's gains, making it important to put the move in context.
Core Laboratories dropped 12% after the energy-analytical company provided a disappointing update on its guidance for the current quarter and for the full 2014 year. For the second quarter, Core Labs cut its earnings guidance by 11% to 12% on about 5% to 6% lower revenue than the company had previously projected. Meanwhile, Core Laboratories cut $0.20 to $0.25 per share from their full-year views, with sales expectations now 5% to 6% lower than earlier guidance. With many of the best-producing unconventional oil and gas production areas already sampled and analyzed extensively, customers of Core Labs aren't spending as much to cut drilled cores for analysis. As new opportunities in other areas arise, though, Core Laboratories could see that activity return in the future.
Bridgepoint Education declined 9% after the for-profit education company issued its preliminary quarterly results and also said that it would be unable to file its required quarterly report with the SEC. Bridgepoint posted a 28% drop in revenue compared to the year-ago quarter, posting a net loss of $4.4 million. Total enrollment fell 18% from year-ago levels, once again showing the challenges that for-profit schools are facing in trying to keep student enrollments up in order to prevent further revenue declines. But the big news came from the SEC, with Bridgepoint saying that the SEC's review of its filings resulted in the need for a reassessment of the method that Bridgepoint used to recognize revenue. Bridgepoint isn't sure whether the required changes will prove to be material, although early indications make it clear that at least some minimal impact will show up on the company's financials.
