Stock prices were up modestly in the morning, drifted down in the afternoon but rallied in the last hour, leaving the major indexes with small gains on the day. The S&P 500 index is down roughly five percent so far in May.
The technology sector was quiet today. Netflix had a gain of 0.76 percent while Amazon.com declined 0.16 percent. Software-maker salesforce.com was up 1.81 percent but chipmaker NVIDIA Corp. fell 0.88 percent. Eight of thirteen tech stocks on the index were up today.
Dollar Tree Inc. had the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™, rising 3.14 percent after reporting good financial results. The discount retailer beat revenue estimates and hit earnings targets with same-store sales growth of 2.2 percent slightly above expectations. The company lowered its full-year earnings forecast in part because of the impact of tariffs on Chinese-made goods. It also warned that further levies would have additional financial impact. The stock is up 8.8 percent this year.
Pest-control stalwart Rollins Inc. was also up sharply today, rising 2.19 percent. The stock is up 4.5 percent for the year. Other good gains on the index today included diversified manufacturer Danaher Corp.(1.66 percent), healthcare IT provider Cerner Corp. (1.28 percent) and O’Reilly Auto Parts (1.41 percent).
Wynn Resorts had the biggest loss on the index today, dropping 2.59 percent. Wynn is hyper-sensitive to China-related news as it derives more than 70 percent of its revenue from casinos in Macau and needs the Chinese government to renew its licenses to operate there. Earlier this week, the company paid a $35 million fine to the State of Massachusetts related to its handling of sexual allegations against former CEO and founder Steve Wynn.
Specialty retailer Bed Bath & Beyond fell 2.15 percent. Yesterday, the company announced it had reached a deal with activist investors who recently forced former CEO Steven Temares to leave the company. The investors will now support all the company’s nominees for an expanded board and has dropped litigation against the company. BBBY is looking for a new CEO. The stock was up more than 70 percent this year through early April, as investors anticipated major changes at the struggling retailer. However, It has fallen more than 34 percent since April 10.
Other notable declines on the index included Capital One Financial (-1.22 percent) and Fedex Corp. (-0.98 percent). Oil and gas producer Hess Corp. was also down 1.28 percent after the price of oil fell nearly four percent today. Gap Inc. was down 1.1 percent on the day but fell more than ten percent in early after-hours trading. The retailer reported earnings after the market close.
