Wednesday was a solid day on Wall Street, as market participants were upbeat about what they saw as favorable indications that U.S.-China relations might not be as bad as yesterday's move from the White House suggested. Yet macroeconomic concerns still plague investors, and many companies have had to deal with headwinds that they're finding difficult to overcome. Some individual stocks got hit especially hard, and U.S. Steel (NYSE: X), James River Group Holdings (NASDAQ: JRVR), and iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) were among them. Here's why they did so poorly.
Shares of U.S. Steel fell more than 8% after the steelmaker said that it would implement what it called an "enhanced operating model and organization structure." The move is designed to help it serve customers more effectively while boosting the speed of its previous strategic transformation efforts. CEO David Burritt believes that the decision will help the company stay competitive in global markets. However, investors weren't happy to see CFO Kevin Bradley announce his resignation, and even though he'll stay on through the end of 2019, the departure signals some potential discord as U.S. Steel seeks to put itself in the best possible position within the industry.
Image source: U.S. Steel.