What started out as a wobbly day following an encouraging unemployment claims figure ended up being a rather fruitful session. The S&P 500 closed up 0.45% to end the day at 2091.18.
It wasn’t sunshine and roses for every stock, though. Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) all found themselves rather deep in the red, with two of the three names being bit by the earnings bug.
Zynga (ZNGA)
Zynga shareholders may not know what the company needs to get and stay on the right track. Shareholders certainly know what they don’t like, though. They don’t like founder, chairman and former CEO Mark Pincus taking the helm again, and sent ZNGA shares down 18% on Thursday to make their point.
The change comes a year and a half after Pincus was replaced by former Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) executive Don Mattrick was brought into reinvigorate the struggling game-maker.
The prompt for Mattrick’s exit wasn’t entirely clear. Though Zynga didn’t flourish under him, it didn’t flounder either, and a year and a half isn’t enough time to pass judgment either way. Moreover, ZNGA shareholders clearly aren’t confident the disruption and the reseating of Pincus is the right move at this time.
Alcoa (AA)
The harbinger of earnings season didn’t exactly set a bullish tone for the rest of Q1’s results. Fortunately, it has become somewhat irrelevant as an economic barometer.
Aluminum company Alcoa topped earnings estimates of 26 cents per share by earning 28 cents per share of AA in its first fiscal quarter of the year. Revenue of $5.82 billion, however, came up short of the anticipated $5.94 billion.
The quarterly results in and of themselves were palatable. The reason AA tanked more than 3%, though, had more to do with Alcoa’s outlook for the entire aluminum industry. The company foresees a surplus of 326,000 tonnes of aluminum this year, which could keep aluminum prices suppressed for a long, painful period.
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY)
Bed Bath & Beyond didn’t have a great fiscal fourth quarter, and the future isn’t looking a whole lot better, either.
On Thursday morning, the home-goods retailer reported quarterly numbers that fell short of analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines. The company earned $1.80 per share of BBBY, versus expectations of $1.81. Analysts were looking for sales of $3.37 billion, but the company only posted revenue of $3.34 billion. Revenue was up in Q4 on a year-over-year basis, but net income fell overall.
The market was also less-than-pleased with the Q1 and full-year outlook. Bed Bath & Beyond is now looking for top-line growth between 2% and 3% for the current quarter as well as for the full year, with earnings growth expected to roll in similarly weak, if not flat.
Disappointed investors sent BBBY shares lower more than 5% for the day.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
