9 After-Hours Stock Movers Tanking After Big News Reactions

July 17, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 27,219.85 after a 115.78 drop on the day, and the S&P 500 closed down almost 20 points at 2,984.42. While earnings season is off to a very mixed start, there are almost always some big winners and big losers during earnings season. It just so happens to be that many companies find their shares being hit with a wrecking ball even in the biggest bull market due to post-earnings reactions and reactions due to other bits of news.

24/7 Wall St. has tracked nine stocks that took big hits in the after-hours trading session on Wednesday, July 17, 2019. These are not the only movers after the close, but these moves stood out above and beyond the others. As a reminder, some after-hours moves are exaggerated compared to how they open or trade the following days. Many of these stocks also may be among the stocks receiving multiple analyst upgrades or downgrades on Thursday or the coming trading days.

Here are the top nine stocks that took it on the chin in the after-hours on Wednesday.

Amarin Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: AMRN) has seen its shares surge higher in 2019, and no good deed will go unpunished after rewarding all those shareholders who bought into the strength with the announcement of a $400 million underwritten public offering of its American depositary shares. The shares were down 3% at $21.07 in regular trading, but they were down a sharp 9.4% at $19.08 in the after-hours. There were also almost 1.3 million shares traded in only two hours of after-hours trading. Amarin did say that all the shares in the proposed offering were going to be sold by Amarin to support the ongoing and expanding commercialization of Vascepa and other corporate uses.

Francesca’s Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: FRAN) had been up 25% earlier in the day but closed up 11.2% at $3.77, after hedge fund Cross River Partners purchased about $6.5 million worth of the stock. Francesca’s was down 3.4% at $3.64 in the after-hours, but the 40,000 shares in two hours on a day when the stock traded over 9 million shares may be catch-up trades or profit-taking by investors who have grown too accustomed to not wanting to own this name.

Limelight Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: LLNW) was the biggest percentage loser in the Nasdaq after-hours session. Its shares were down almost 12.5%, or −$0.34, at $2.41 on almost 150,000 after-hours shares on Wednesday. Along with an adjusted loss of three cents per share, Limelight sees its 2019 adjusted EPS near breakeven and a net loss of $0.10 per share. EBITDA was negative $2.2 million for the second quarter of 2019, compared to $20.3 million for the second quarter of 2018

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) looks like the price hikes and content losses ahead are starting to catch up as global subscriber growth was slower than expected. Netflix shares were last seen down 12% (or almost $44 each) at $318.69. Also worth noting was that 4.6 million shares traded in two hours after the close, which is almost a full day’s normal trading volume when all the market participants are there to wheel and deal.

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) appeared to meet earnings expectations, but its shares were down almost 4% at $57.56 in the after-hours session. That said, the volume was rather low, and it is possible that it was a situation in which an off-market trade was made in the after-hours. That said, guidance appeared to be light at $0.81 to $0.91 EPS, versus $0.96 EPS expected.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was down 2.3% at $109.34 in regular trading on Wednesday, and the shares were down 2.7% at $106.32 in Wednesday’s after-hours session. More than 300,000 shares traded hands in two hours after the closing bell, and this has the hallmarks of being a “Netflix sympathy trade.”

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) beat second-quarter expectations but trimmed the top-end of its guidance ahead. At $123.53 in the after-hours, it was down 6.05% on over 250,000 shares. After peaking in 2018 at almost $190, this stock has seen its share of volatility as an “infrastructure winner” that isn’t always a winner.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was up 1.3% at $152.00 in regular trading on Wednesday, but the shares were last seen down almost 4% at $146.00 in Wednesday’s after-hours trading after it was announced that James Savarese was retiring from the role of chief operating officer and John Mulliken was retiring from the role as chief technology officer in 2019. Both leaders have served Wayfair for more than a decade.

Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO) was down 0.8% at $39.25 ahead of the close, and the after-hours movers showed it down almost 5% at $37.29. There was no evident news, and with only 12,637 shares traded in the after-hours and 227,000 shares the whole day, it’s very possible this is a catch-up trade or something else.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Aurora Cannabis, Canopy Growth, Cheniere Energy, CSX, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola, Slack, Tilray, VMware and over a dozen more.


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