In this article, we discuss the 5 biggest losers of this morning. If you want to check out some more stocks losing value on Tuesday, go directly to 10 Biggest Losers Today.
5. Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) named its new chief executive officer this morning. The news sent Lumen stock down more than six percent after the opening bell on Tuesday. The Louisiana-based telecommunications company has appointed Kate Johnson as its next CEO.
Johnson would replace the outgoing CEO Jeff Storey. Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) said Storey would stay with the company through the end of this year to facilitate a smooth transition. Storey is retiring after spending nearly four decades in the telecommunication and technology sectors.
Earlier this year, Memphis-based Longleaf Partners Fund also discussed Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN) in its first-quarter 2022 investor letter, stating:
“Lumen – Lumen reported weak organic revenue growth and guided more weakness for 2022. We expect revenue growth to kick back in towards the end of 2022, and the huge FCF coupon helped offset value decline from the weaker guidance. The other factor weighing on the stock price was largest shareholder Temasek’s partial sale of its 10% position in the quarter, creating uncertainty and a share price overhang. We have a 13D filed and continue to urge the company to take steps to address the significant price-to-value gap, including continued share buybacks.”
4. Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43
Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) hit a new 52-week low of $40.31 this morning after Exane BNP Paribas issued an “Underperform” rating for the data storage company.
Analyst Karl Ackerman referred to the declining hard-disk-drives in the coming quarters. Ackerman believes Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) could face a hard time amid a cyclical drop in NAND. He set a price target of $30 per share for the stock.
The coverage came a day after CEO David Goeckeler said Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) experienced a sharp drop in NAND storage prices over the last month. Goeckeler made these comments during the Goldman Sachs technology conference held in San Francisco yesterday.
3. Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) is next on the list of 5 biggest losers today. The company’s shares fell over four percent this morning after Jefferies lowered its ratings for the commodity chemical company from “Buy” to “Hold.”
Jefferies analyst Laurence Alexander thinks Dow stock would likely stay range-bound for a while. Alexander also believes Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) could face a hard time due to a spike in interest rates that has affected consumer confidence.
Moreover, he suggested investors wait for a better price to invest in the stock. Alexander slashed his price target for Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) from $71 per share to $45 per share.
2. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 69
Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) marginally moved down after the opening bell on Tuesday. The drop came after the Texas-based tech giant missed profit expectations for its fiscal first quarter.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) blamed the strong U.S. dollar for hurting its results. The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share, missing the consensus of $1.07 per share. Revenue for the quarter rose 18 percent on a year-over-year basis to $11.2 billion, almost in line with the consensus.
Moving forward, Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) expects a strong U.S. dollar to impact its revenue by 5 – 6 percent in the current quarter.
Moreover, Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) also made an important announcement along with its latest earnings. The company’s CTO, Larry Ellison, said in a statement:
“Today we are also announcing that Amazon Web Services customers can directly access Oracle’s MySQL HeatWave database running in the Amazon Cloud. This enables AWS users to run transaction processing, real-time analytics, and machine learning on the single unified MySQL service.”
1. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184
Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) slid over seven percent in mid-day trading Tuesday. There was no company-specific news behind the drop. However, industry experts were linking the decline to the recently released U.S. inflation data for the month of August.
The data showed that the consumer price index inched up 0.1 percent last month, contrary to the expectations for a 1 percent decline. The surge in the consumer price index would likely result in another interest rate hike, which is why all three major indices and most sector leaders, including Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), fell this morning.
Separately, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) also appeared in the second-quarter 2022 investor letter of asset management firm Baron Funds. Here’s what the firm said:
“Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc., the owner of Facebook, the world’s largest social network, fell 28.4% during the second quarter due to quarterly results that missed consensus estimates, driven by the impact of Apple’s new privacy changes in its iOS operating system. These changes have made it harder for Facebook to measure the effectiveness of its advertising across its mobile apps.
In the longer term, we expect Facebook to continue utilizing its leadership in mobile to provide global advertisers targeted marketing capabilities at scale, with substantial monetization optionality ahead in newer areas such as Reels (Meta’s competing solution to TikTok) and e-commerce.”
You can also take a peek at Best Defensive Stocks Under $50 and 10 Best Cyclical Stocks for Inflation.
