Day two of the Fed-inspired rebound was even better than the first day, with the S&P 500 managing to move 2.4% higher in Thursday’s trading against the backdrop of oil’s 3.3% plunge to a close of $55. Technology and health care stocks led the way for equities.
Not every stock out there found the market’s bullish wind in its sails, however. Kirby Corporation (KEX), Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL) and Worthington Industries, Inc. (WOR) managed to lose ground in spite of the market’s rising tide.
Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL)
After soaring to new 52-week highs on Wednesday following news that the U.S. was restoring friendly relations with Cuba, the weight of all the recent Royal Caribbean Cruises has created finally became too much of a burden to shoulder.
Up 48% since the mid-October low, RCL stock pulled back a little more than 3% on Thursday. There was no prod for the profit-taking, other than weeks’ worth of pent-up profit-taking to be enjoyed.
Even with the dip, however, RCL stock is still priced at a palatable forward-looking price-to-earnings ratio of 16.9.
Worthington Industries (WOR)
The good news is, Worthington Industries posted sales as well as earnings growth in its second fiscal quarter. The bad news is, the steel processor fell short of the market’s expectations, sending WOR stock down more than 11%.
Last quarter, Worthington Industries turned in an operating profit of 55 cents per share of WOR stock on revenue of $871 million. Though the per-share figure didn’t compare favorably to the year-ago figure of 55 cents, on a total-dollar basis, the company’s bottom line was up 28%. Sales were up 13% from the second quarter of 2013’s $769.9 million. Problem: Analysts were collectively expecting a profit of 68 cents per share of WOR stock, though the market’s expectation of $859 million was exceeded.
Overall sales volume was up for the company in the second quarter, but Worthington Industries saw higher-than-expected expenses for all of its divisions.
Kirby Corporation (KEX)
Barge operator Kirby Corporation was torpedoed on Thursday, with KEX stock falling nearly 10% after the company announced on Wednesday that it was going to do as well in 2014 as it first thought.
For the fourth quarter of this year, Kirby expects to post of profit between $1.10 and $1.20 per share of KEX stock, versus an initial outlook of $1.30 and $1.40 per share. That retraction in its quarterly outlook by extension meant the full year for Kirby Corporation would be weaker than originally planned.
Now the shipper expects a profit of something between $4.84 and $4.94 per share of KEX stock for 2014, versus a previous estimate of $5.04 to $5.14 per share.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
