Why iRobot Stock Dropped Today
Shares of iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) fell 14.2% on Thursday as investors speculated over the implications of an upcoming meeting of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) pending acquisition of the home-robotics specialist. After the regular session closed, however, iRobot stock plummeted another 40% in after-hours trading following a separate report that European regulators are planning to block the deal.
Recall that iRobot stock also fell last week amid reports that Amazon had opted not to offer concessions to European Union (E.U.) antitrust regulators as it works to clear its impending purchase of the Roomba maker. The move sparked speculation over whether Amazon was content to allow the acquisition to fail or it was instead calling E.U. regulators' bluffs, given prior reports that the deal was previously set to win unconditional approval.
Investors were already on edge this week after a U.S. federal judge blocked a separate pending merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines and amid worries that an FTC meeting scheduled for next week on an undisclosed topic might involve the Amazon-iRobot merger.
Source Fool.com
