After Market: New Highs for Dow and S&P, but Tech Took a Hit

Date: Jun 20 2014

Filed under: Earnings, Market News, Investing

Wall Street had another rising day, with the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 reaching new record highs. But one tech stock tanked and the momentum took a bunch of others in the sector down with it.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) closed 25 points higher, the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) added 8 points, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (^GPSC) was up 3 points.

One of the top gainers on the S&P 500 was used car giant CarMax (KMX). Its share price zoomed higher by 16.5 percent with revenue and profits hitting record levels. The still lackluster economic recovery is causing many to drive off lots in used cars instead of new vehicles. And the hottest model over the past two years? The Nissan Altima. Automotive retailer AutoNation (AN), which runs new and used dealerships, also got a boost, rising more than 5 percent.

It was a different story for software giant Oracle (ORCL), which was one of the S&P 500’s biggest losers. Its stock fell 4 percent on sagging earnings. Social media stocks fell too. Pandora (P) was down 1.5 percent as was Groupon (GRPN), LinkedIn (LNKD) lost almost 1 percent and Amazon (AMZN) fell less than 1 percent two days after unveiling its first smartphone.

But poor Radioshack (RSH). Its stock hit a new low, trading below a dollar a share for the first time after falling almost 10 percent. Since the beginning of the year the stock is down 64 percent. One analyst has a price target of zero on the stock. Ouch. (We hope you don’t have that one in your portfolio.)

And Darden’s (DRI) earnings weren’t very appetizing. Profits came in much lower than expected and guidance was weak. The stock fell 4 percent. It is selling its Red Lobster chain and trying to focus on revamping Olive Garden.

Solar stocks had a bright day, though. Shares of SunEdison (SUNE) shone brightly rising 1.5 percent on news it was acquiring some solar farms in Massachusetts. Other solar stocks also basked on the day. Canadian Solar gained 6 percent, and SolarCity (SCTY) was up 1.5 percent.

In the pharmaceutical sector, there were some clear winners and losers. Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) was up 3.5 percent, Eli Lilly (LLY) gained by 3.5 percent as well, but Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) was down 4 percent.

What to Watch Monday:

  • The National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for May at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

These major companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial statements:

  • Micron Technology (MU)
  • Sonic (SONC)

Produced by Karina Huber.

 

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