Why Gilead Sciences, Pier 1 Imports, and PetMed Express Slumped Today
The market remained kind to investors on Thursday, as the S&P 500 climbed into record territory amid modest advances for most major benchmarks. Positive data on durable goods orders helped keep economists pleased with the state of affairs domestically, and optimism that Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration might be more successful at pushing tax reform forward than they've been with healthcare seemed to provoke a favorable response from market participants. Some companies suffered from bad news that kept them from participating in stocks' overall rise. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR), and PetMed Express (NASDAQ: PETS) 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 Gilead Sciences fell 3.5% after the biotech giant said that COO Kevin Young would retire early next year. Young will stay employed through the first quarter and then work in an advisory capacity, according to the company's press release. The decline makes it clear that at least some investors fear some other motive for the departure, but one set of analysts following the stock noted that it's much more important for Gilead to execute well following its nearly $12 billion acquisition bid for Kite Pharma (NASDAQ: KITE). Having waited so long to put some of its cash to work, Gilead needs to show investors that it can compete in the M&A arena against more aggressive rivals in the biotech space.
Image source: Gilead Sciences.
Source: Fool.com