Major benchmarks gained a lot of ground on Thursday, buoyed by enthusiasm about the prospects for China and the U.S. to engage in fruitful negotiations to resolve their trade disputes. That alone wasn't enough to dispel many of the concerns that investors have had recently, as a big bounce in yields on Treasury securities also allayed fears of a potential recession. Yet some individual companies had to deal with obstacles to their growth that caused their share prices to drop. Meredith (NYSE: MDP), Livongo Health (NASDAQ: LVGO), and First Majestic Silver (NYSE: AG) were among the worst performers. Here's why they did so poorly.
Shares of Meredith plunged 23% even after the media company reported what seemed to be solid results in its fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue was down about 2% from the year-ago period, but earnings from continuing operations came close to doubling over the same time frame. Yet even with those numbers, investors had wanted to see a larger impact from the acquisition last year of magazine giant Time. Moreover, Meredith was downbeat about its future, projecting sales for the new fiscal year that were considerably below what most of those following the stock had anticipated. It'll take continued effort to get the most out of the Time assets that Meredith acquired and to concentrate on those likeliest to produce growth going forward.
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