Wall Street finished in the red territory on Tuesday, as investors repositioned their portfolios ahead of the Fed rate decision on Wednesday.
The Nasdaq dropped the highest among its peers, declining 1.71 percent. The S&P 500 followed with a 1.07-percent loss, while the Dow Jones decreased by 0.62 percent.
The market pessimism spilled over to various sectors, with 10 companies notably hit the most.
In this article, we have identified the 10 worst performers on Tuesday and detailed the reasons behind their drop.
To come up with the list, we only considered the stocks with a $2-billion market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.
Stock market data on a laptop screen. Photo by Alesia Kozik on Pexels
10. Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM)
Affirm Holdings dropped for a second day on Tuesday, losing 8.88 percent to close at $43.70 apiece as investors continued to sell off positions following news that it was replaced by a Swedish company as the exclusive provider of installment loans at Walmart stores in the US.
On Monday, Swedish AI-powered payments and commerce network firm Klarna said that it bagged a partnership agreement with Walmart to provide Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) promotions to its customers, a program that AFRM has been offering to the retailer since 2019.
Klarna said it would partner with OnePay, a leading consumer finance app, to exclusively offer installment loans for purchases for Walmart stores in the US.
Following the agreement, customers will expect to see Klarna installment loan options in Walmart’s checkout channels in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, AFRM said in a statement that it will continue with its long-term strategy of competing on its products and entering into sustainable partnerships.
9. IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)
IonQ saw its share prices drop by 9.03 percent on Tuesday to end at $22.68 each as investors repositioned portfolios amid a cautious broader market while waiting for fresh catalysts to boost buying appetite.
IONQ is currently participating in the ongoing week-long NVIDIA GTC event in San Jose, California where its executive chairman, Peter Chapman, will join a panel discussion on the current and future landscape of quantum computing.
With the theme, “Quantum Computing: Where We Are and Where We’re Headed,” investors will be looking out for further cues and business plans from the company.
In other news, IONQ was recently criticized by a short seller over its valuation, growth projections, and transparency.
In its report on Thursday, short seller Kerrisdale Capital criticized IONQ’s lofty growth projections and questioned the viability of its technology. It said that despite IONQ’s claims of significant technical and commercial milestones, the company was struggling with scalability.
“Although IONQ’s stock price has retreated from its all-time high, it is still trading at a value reaching 40 times its projected revenue for 2026,” the short seller said. “However, we believe IONQ is far from achieving new commercial success.”