These 10 Firms Were Last Week’s Worst Performers

Wall Street’s main indices finished firmer on Friday, with all main indices settling in the green territory ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Week-on-week, the Dow eked out a 3.81-percent gain, the S&P rallied 3.79 percent, while the Nasdaq increased by 3.84 percent.

Ten companies from diverse sectors, however, ended Friday weaker, posting notable declines versus the week prior. In this article, let’s look at which firms suffered a bloodbath and the reasons that dragged their performance.

For this week’s list, we only focused on companies with a market capitalization of at least $2 billion and a minimum trading volume of $5 million.

A laptop and a computer monitor display a detailed stock market technical analysis chart. Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki on Pexels

10. Fluence Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNC)

Fluence Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNC) dropped its share prices by 10.25 percent week-on-week to finish Friday’s trading at $14.44 apiece amid investor concerns about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ongoing investigation against the company over improper accounting practices.

The investigation stemmed from Blue Orca Capital’s claims in February 2024 alleging that Fluence Energy (NASDAQ:FLNC) artificially inflated revenues and profits through aggressive accounting tactics, including revenue recognition schemes and selective earnings adjustments.

In its report, Blue Orca said: “In our opinion, Fluence Energy’s (NASDAQ:FLNC) purported improvement over recent quarters is the product of accounting games that have materially inflated revenue growth and Adjusted Gross Margins, which we think helps to explain why Fluence is on its third CFO in just over two years.”

Law firm Hagens Berman initiated a probe into Fluence Energy’s (NASDAQ:FLNC) potential violations of the US securities laws and urged investors who suffered substantial losses to come forward.

9. Rocket Lab USA Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Shares of Rocket Lab USA Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) markedly dropped by 10.8 percent week-on-week to close at $24 apiece last Friday from the previous week’s $26.91 finish, as investors repositioned their portfolios amid what appears to be a tightening market competition in the space exploration industry.

This came after billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit on Thursday, just a day after Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its Starship rocket into the sky.

While SpaceX’s launch failed, Blue Origin’s launch success fueled investors’ concerns of an increasing market competition that can put pressure on small competitors like Rocket Lab.

For this year, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) is expected to debut its Neutron rocket, which it has been developing since 2021. At $50 million to $55 million per launch, Neutron is set to rake in revenues and profits that would pave the way for its growth.