Why Expedia Inc (EXPE), Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (SFM) and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) Are 3 of Today’s Worst Stocks

Advertisement

Stocks started the trading action on Monday how they left things off on Friday … uncertain as to which direction they were supposed to be going. Clouding the matter even further was the awe of the impact this weekend’s weather disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Although there are financial upsides and downsides, traders mostly decided not to decide. The S&P 500 Index’s close of 2,444.24 was only 0.05% better than Friday’s last trade.

Why Expedia Inc (EXPE), Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (SFM) and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) Are 3 of Today's Worst StocksNot every name escaped a setback on Monday though. Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE), Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) and Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ:SFM) all took big tumbles as investors were forced to digest alarming news for each.

Here’s the deal.

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (SFM)

There’s no denying that the energy sector dished out the most pain to most investors today, as the damage inflicted by hurricane Harvey on Texas’ east coast will shut many of the industries’ companies for days if not weeks to come. Time is money, and none were left unscathed.

Monday’s biggest loser didn’t come from the energy sector though. Rather, it came from the grocery industry. Healthy and wholesome grocer Sprouts Farmers Market stumbled 9.7% on Monday.

Blame Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), by the way. Its acquisition of Whole Foods Market was made official today, and just as promised last week, price cuts are already underway. In that Sprouts Farmers Market is not only Whole Foods’ most direct competition and lacks the size benefit of grocery giant Kroger Co (NYSE:KR), shareholders were rightfully worried the company will eventually be crushed by the e-commerce behemoth that doesn’t care too much about profitability.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC)

Technically speaking it wasn’t the biggest loser in the wake of Harvey’s fallout … not even among oil-related stocks. But, in terms of volume and total market cap lost on Monday, the 2.6% dip Anadarko Petroleum shares saw today serves as the poster child for the drubbing all of these names took on Monday, with oil prices slumping a surprising 2.4% despite the impending decrease in its supply.

It’s a simple though somewhat rational outcome. Although oil supplies are apt to fall, demand for oil by refineries is projected to fall even more. The nation’s refining capacity is expected to be 2.2 million barrels per day less than the norm for the foreseeable future.

Don’t look for the dynamic to last too long though. While refiners have a long and expensive rebuilding process in front of them, gasoline prices have skyrocketed due to the likelihood of crimped supply. Someone’s going to find extra oil somewhere to cash in on the looming lack of supply.

Expedia Inc (EXPE)

Last but not least, although it’s not official yet, it looked like online travel agent Expedia will be losing its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, to ride-hailing service Uber where he will take that company’s top position.

Although it’s not entirely clear if Expedia’s recent success is attributable to Khosrowshahi or just fortunate timing, there’s little doubt that such a disruption now has the potential to alter a formula that was clearly working. Concerned investors sent EXPE shares 4.5% lower today, looking to avoid that disruption and uncertain as to who would be replacing Khosrowshahi.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Follow him on Twitter, at @jbrumley.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/08/why-expedia-inc-expe-sprouts-farmers-market-inc-sfm-and-anadarko-petroleum-corporation-apc-are-3-of-todays-worst-stocks/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC