A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week.
Pier 1 Imports
PIR (NYSE)
Feb. 13, 2015 close: $12.52 (U.S.)
down $4.58 or 26.8% over week
When a company slashes its profit forecast, that’s usually a bad sign. When it slashes it twice, that’s a really, really bad sign. And when it slashes it three times in the same year? Well, it’s probably time to find a new company. Investors in home decor and furniture retailer Pier 1 stampeded to the exits after the company lowered its guidance yet again and said its CFO had stepped down. The stock’s been priced to clear.
Tesla Motors
TSLA (Nasdaq)
Feb. 13, 2015 close: $203.77 (U.S.)
down $13.59 or 6.2% over week
Tesla's new Model S P85D has a 0-to-60 m.p.h. time of just over three seconds. Coincidentally, that's roughly how long it took investors to wipe out more than $2-billion of the electric car maker’s market cap the morning after it posted surprisingly bad fourth-quarter results. Hit by delivery delays related to production hiccups and "severe winter weather," Tesla swung to a loss and posted revenue several car lengths short of estimates.
Bombardier
BBD.B (TSX)
Feb. 13, 2015 close: $2.58
down 35¢ or 11.9% over week
Things that are more enjoyable than investing in Bombardier:
1) Taking a bath in raw sewage;
2) Watching the Leafs;
3) Lighting money on fire.
Just when you thought the Bomber couldn’t possibly announce more bad news, the long-struggling plane and train maker reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.6-billion, suspended its dividend and announced the resignation of CEO Pierre Beaudoin. Other than that, great quarter.
Kellogg
K (NYSE)
Feb. 13, 2015 close: $63.20 (U.S.)
down $3.05 or 4.6% over week
You know when you leave cereal sitting in milk too long and it gets all soggy? Sort of like what’s happened to Kellogg’s share price: With consumers bypassing the cereal aisle and buying breakfast items that they can eat on the go, the maker of Corn Flakes, Special K, Rice Krispies and Froot Loops posted fourth-quarter results below expectations and warned that cereal sales will continue falling in 2015. Snap, crackle, plop.
TripAdvisor
TRIP (Nasdaq)
Feb. 13, 2015 close: $84.81 (U.S.)
up $16.23 or 23.7% over week
TripAdvisor’s website lets users book vacations and post reviews of hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. As for reviews of the company itself, investors have nothing but nice things to say: The shares jumped after TripAdvisor reported fourth-quarter revenue above expectations and projected sales growth of about 20 per cent in 2015. Expedia’s $1.6-billion purchase of Orbitz Worldwide didn’t hurt TripAdvisor’s stock, either.