TEN (10) STOCKS THAT PERFORMED POORLY IN 2019

With the year 2019 gradually coming to a close, we have had stocks that performed excellently and those that performed poorly. In this article, we would be looking at 10 stocks that performed poorly in 2019.

 

Ted Baker (TED: London)

The clothier’s shares are heading for their worst year on record and have cemented their position among the U.K.’s worst-performing stocks of 2019.

The stock tumbled as much as 15% on Monday, Dec. 02, after the company said it was going to hire a law firm and independent accountants to review an overstatement of unsold goods. That took its decline this year to 76%, the FTSE All-Share Index’s sixth-worst performing member in a list that’s anchored by Metro Bank Plc and Sirius Minerals Plc. Those stocks have slumped 89% and 81%, respectively in 2019. Ted Baker shares have been in a downward spiral since last December, when reports first surfaced that founder Ray Kelvin gave employees unwanted hugs, allegations that were followed by his resignation as Chief Executive Officer.

Fossil Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL)

Fossil Group Inc. FOSL, shares experienced a 20% decline in the first week of November after the watchmaker reported a quarterly loss, and was downgraded by KeyBanc Capital Markets. The CEO outlined a tough consumer environment, difficult sales trend at wholesale channels in developed markets and lack of interest in traditional watches as some of the reasons why the sales expectation were lowered for the fourth quarter of 2019.

 

Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M)

Through September, the worst performing stock in the S&P 500 was Macy’s Inc. (NYSE:M), with a decline of about 47.6%.

Macy’s stock have always underperformed. Shares of Macy’s have been in a secular downtrend for several years now, as the mall retail stalwart has struggled to adapt to the shifting sands in the commerce world. These struggles have continued in 2019. Comparable sales growth has hugged the flat line, margins have dropped and profits have tumbled. As these struggles have continued, investors have grown increasingly skeptical that Macy’s will survive e-commerce disruption, and M stock has sputtered to multi-year lows.

 

ArtGo

A day later, and the stock, which had rallied 3,800% since the beginning of the year, is in a death spiral. Shares of marble-miner ArtGo (ticker: 3313) were down 98% Thursday Nov. 21, shedding $5.7 billion in market value in the process.

According to Bloomberg, "among global companies with a market cap of at least $1 billion, ArtGo, prior to Thursday’s brutal session, had enjoyed the biggest gain of the year." But that all went poof in a big way when New York-based MSCI dropped plans to add the company to its indexes.

ArtGo, which has been awash in red ink for two years, apparently didn’t meet the necessary standards for MSCI listings after the index-compiler said “further analysis and feedback from market participants on investability.”

Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX)

The Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX) share price was the worst performer on the index with a 16.8% decline in September. The majority of this decline came on following the release of the pharmaceutical company’s annual general meeting presentation. At the event Mayne Pharma, warned that conditions in the key generics market remain very tough. This has led to a 16% decline in group revenue for the first four months of FY 2020.

Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX: SIQ)

The Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX: SIQ) share price was out of form last week with a sizeable 15.2% decline. The salary packaging company’s shares came under pressure after it announced the impending retirement of its long-serving CEO, Deven Billimoria. He will be replaced by the company’s current CFO. Smartgroup also provided its earnings guidance for FY 2019 and expected NPATA growth of just 3.8%.

DXC Technology (NASDAQ: DXC)

IT services provider, DXC Technology (NASDAQ:DXC) performed poorly in September with a loss of about 39.4%.

Shares of DXC are down on the back of slowing revenue growth, margin compression, and profit erosion. Specifically, DXC used to be a positive revenue growth company with expanding margins and rising profits. But, the company’s legacy infrastructure business has come under tremendous pressure over the past 18 months as the global economic backdrop has slowed and accelerated secular pressures challenging that business. While the digital business has remained largely healthy, digital strength has not been good enough to offset infrastructure weakness.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) shares declined more than 13% on Oct. 8 following a downgrade rating by The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. NKTR also reported a loss of 63 cents per share for the second quarter of 2019. The company develops drugs for cancer, autoimmune diseases and chronic pains in the United States.

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC)

Kraft Heinz company, the American food company formed by the merger of Kraft and Heinz, may have bottomed out following a brutal two-and-a-half-year downtrend that relinquished more than 70% of its value

TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ: TRIP)

Earnings for the travel review company's third quarter of 2019 dropped following the adjusted EPS of 58 cents and missing Wal Streets estimate of 69 cents. Presently, revenue is way below several analysts estimates of $458.61 million. According to them, the third quarter was quite difficult than anticipated, but they are taking effective measures.

 

Disclosure:  Invesintport's portforlio includes Kraft Heinz and we plan to hold it until we feel the need to sell it.