Why Viacom, Diplomat Pharmacy, and Bitauto Holdings Slumped Today
The stock market surged on Thursday, with major benchmarks climbing 1% or more in the wake of good news on the political front. The House version of the tax bill got a positive vote from lawmakers, achieving congressional representatives' self-imposed deadline of getting a bill passed by Thanksgiving. Tax reform is far from a done deal, with the Senate working on its own version of the proposal and needing to hammer out compromises on a number of key elements. Despite the overall positive mood among investors, companies with bad news missed out on the rally and posted substantial losses. Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB), Diplomat Pharmacy (NYSE: DPLO), and Bitauto Holdings (NYSE: BITA) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.
Shares of Viacom fell 4% after the media giant reported its fiscal fourth-quarter results on Thursday morning. The company said that revenue was up just 3% compared to the previous year's fiscal fourth quarter, although adjusted net income climbed 14%. Yet affiliate revenues were down slightly, especially in the domestic area, and a drop in cable television subscribers pointed to the continuing pressure from cord-cutting that Viacom faces. Even as the company's Paramount Pictures division looks to generate more hit content, Viacom will have to address core fundamental weakness in the cable and media businesses in order to deliver its full potential to shareholders.
Image source: Viacom.
Source: Fool.com
