Why Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Juno Therapeutics Inc (JUNO) and Kroger Co (KR) Are 3 of Today’s Worst Stocks

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Traders weren’t in the same buying mood they were in on Wednesday. Just one day after reaching record levels in a decisive manner, the profit-takers crawled out of the woodwork. The S&P 500 peeled back by 0.59% on Thursday, ending the session at 2,381.92.

Why Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Juno Therapeutics Inc (JUNO) and Kroger Co (KR) Are 3 of Today's Worst StocksLeading the bearish charge were Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT).

Here’s a closer look at what upended each name.

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)

Whenever a federal agency raids a corporate office, it’s bad for that company’s stock. Whenever a federal agency raids a corporate office and nobody has any idea why, it’s even worse, simply because it allows the public to come up with their own assumptions as to the reasons, and they often come up with a worst-case scenario.

Just ask anyone who owns Caterpillar. CAT shares tumbled to the tune of 4.3% on Thursday after agents from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Internal Revenue Service searched the company’s Peoria, Illinois headquarters with search warrant in-hand.

The surprise search might have something to do with the $2 billion the IRS says is due in taxes and penalties after the company improperly assigned profits to a Swiss division … a claim Caterpillar is contesting.

Kroger Co (KR)

For more than three years, grocer Kroger lead the industry with consistent same-store sales growth. That streak finally ended last quarter, as indicated by the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year results.

For the quarter ending in January, Kroger earned 53 cents per share on revenue of $27.6 billion. The bottom line topped estimates for a profit of 52 cents per share of KR, and the top line was better than the $27.3 billion analysts had called for. But, same-store sales slumped by 0.7% versus an expected 0.1% increase.

Blame competitors for weaker profits on stronger sales. Kroger has been pushed into a price war with rivals who are willing to sacrifice margins to draw customers to their locales. CEO Rodney McMullen explained, “We are obviously disappointed with our identical supermarket sales number in the fourth quarter and our performance on several other (measures), including operating margin and return on invested capital, which were driven by the deflationary environment.”

KR ended the day down 4.3%.

Juno Therapeutics Inc (JUNO)

Finally, after years of development, Juno Therapeutics is pulling the plug on a ballyhooed leukemia treatment program, and JUNO shareholders aren’t the least bit happy about it (if today’s 10.6% pullback is any indication).

The drug, just called JCAR015 for the time being, was an immunotherapy drug that took aim at acute lymphoblastic leukemia by inducing a patient’s own immune systems to better fight the disease. The phase 2 study revealed a dangerous neurotoxicity that ultimately led to the death of five patients in the trial.

Juno Therapeutics isn’t giving up on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, however. It intends to launch JCAR017 as a therapy for the disease next year. That drug is already approved for select uses and hasn’t proven to be problematic. JUNO shareholders were disappointed all the same, though.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/03/why-caterpillar-inc-cat-juno-therapeutics-inc-juno-and-kroger-co-kr-are-3-of-todays-worst-stocks/.

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