In the grand scheme of things, it could have been worse. At one point, weak employment growth for May had the S&P 500 down by almost 1%. When all was said and done, though, investors still saw reason for hope. The S&P 500 ended the day at 2099.13, down only 0.29%.
Still, not every stock mustered such a rebound on Friday. Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Immunomedics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMMU) and SouFun Holdings Ltd (NYSE:SFUN) all got, and stayed, deep in the red. Here’s the deal.
Citigroup Inc (C)
Just when it looked like the big banks and brokerage firms would finally get another much-needed rate hike — and boost profitability as a result — the market threw a curve ball. In the wake of May’s disappointing employment report, a June rate hike became a near-impossibility, and a July rate increase was effectively taken off the table as well.
In response, Citigroup shares fell more than 3%, followed by most of its peers within the financial sector.
Of course, Citigroup didn’t do itself any favors. The company also warned C shareholders this morning that its second-quarter income would likely fall as much as 25% on a year-over-year basis. Although trading revenue is expected to grow, its capital markets business has been tepid, and compliance costs have grown.
Immunomedics, Inc. (IMMU)
Immunomedics is easily the day’s most dramatic (and strange) big-loser story of the day, with IMMU shares falling 15% after the company was kicked out of a key industry/investor conference for misrepresenting the data regarding one of its trials while at the event.
That event was this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference, held in Chicago, scheduled from today through June 7th. The drug in question was cancer therapy IMMU-132, for the treatment of breast cancer. Rather than sharing new results during the company’s presentation, Immunomedics recycled older data, posing it as new. In violation of ASCO’s standards, the conference coordinators asked the company’s representatives to leave, cancelling its presentation.
The usual bevy of attorneys quickly organized and publicized possible class action lawsuits.
SouFun Holdings Ltd (SFUN)
Finally, Chinese e-commerce outfit SouFun Holdings may have managed to top revenue estimates last quarter, but with the loss rolling in even bigger than expected, SFUN shareholders were quick to interpret the glass as half empty rather than half full.
When they were first announced Thursday morning, the response to the numbers was good. SFUN jumped 4% on the company’s $204.6 million in Q1 revenue, which easily topped expectations of $189.2 million. With a night to sleep on it, though, SFUN owners decided the loss of 24 cents per share was simply too great compared to the loss of 10 cents per share analysts had been modeling, sending SFUN more than 7% lower — and to new multi-week lows — as a result.
The company also upped its full-year revenue guidance from $1.06 billion to $1.15 billion, or 30% more than 2015’s top line. But, investors simply weren’t impressed.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
