Prompted by lower-than-expected unemployment claims and encouraged by another strong rally in crude oil prices, the broad market logged another winning day. The S&P 500 closed at 2,062.52, up 1.03%.
Not every stock was so lucky, however. Keurig Green Mountain Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR), Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC) and Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE:PRU) all dipped deep into the red ink on Thursday, all because of earnings woes.
Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR)
While the Keurig single-cup coffee-making device is still a revolutionary device, it looks like consumers prefer other coffee makers when they need to make more than one cup.
That’s the gist of analysts’ observations today anyway, in the wake of the first quarter earnings report from Keurig Green Mountain released Wednesday evening. The company posted adjusted earnings of 88 cents per share of GMCR stock on $1.39 billion worth of revenue. The market was collectively expecting income of 89 cents per share and sales of $1.47 billion.
The key cause for the letdown was disappointing demand for the Keurig 2.0, which, unlike the company’s earliest machines, can make an entire pot of coffee in one shot, rather than just one cup at a time.
GMCR stock fell nearly 5% on the news and an equally disappointing outlook.
Teradata Corporation (TDC)
Data storage maker Teradata Corporation may have topped earnings estimates, but that wasn’t enough to stave off a 10% plunge from TDC stock, spurred by investors more worried about disappointing sales and a tepid outlook for 2015.
In its fourth fiscal quarter of last year, the company posted an adjusted profit of 91 cents per share of TDC stock versus expectations of 90 cents. The Q4 top line of $761 million, however, was shy of the forecast $778 million.
Teradata also reeled in its 2015 outlook. Now the company is looking for a full-year profit of somewhere between $2.50 and $2.70 per share of TDC stock, compared to prior analyst consensus estimates of $2.99. The implied revenue expectation of around $2.73 billion for 2015 was also shy of the forecast for $2.83 billion.
Prudential Financial (PRU)
Though Prudential Financial posted weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter of 2014 on Thursday, that wasn’t the bulk of the reason PRU stock fell nearly 6%. Rather, it was something far more concerning.
While describing it as a “mysterious decline” in capital may sound like the beginning of a John Grisham novel, it actually describes what happened to the balance sheet Prudential Financial posted as part of its Q4 filings. The capital total was supposed to be (according to analysts) $3.5 billion. When the official numbers were unveiled though, the figure was a paltry $2 billion.
The explanation? Higher interest rates and raised funding requirements at the state level chewed up a big chunk of that cash. Analysts remain less-than-pleased with the answer.
Regardless of what really happened to the money in question, the insurer posted an adjusted operating profit of $2.12 per share of PRU stock on the heels of $14.25 billion in sales. The top line handily topped expectations of only $12.36 billion in revenue, but the pros were expecting a profit of $2.38 per share.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
