Bed Bath and Beyond Stock Soars as Investors Announce Plans to Oust Board of Directors
Activist investors announced a plan to replace all 12 members of the board.
By Andrew Osterland •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Investors are apparently fed up with the performance of struggling retailer Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY).
A trio of investors, owning less than 5 percent of the company between them, announced plans to wage a proxy battle to oust all 12 directors on the company's board. The news sent BBBY shares soaring by more than 30 percent by mid-morning, and the stock closed the day with a 21.99 percent gain -- the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™ today. The stock is still down over 20 percent in the last 12 months.
The company defended its board members and said it welcomed "constructive input" from shareholders. "We look forward to receiving and reviewing any specific suggestions and recommendations the Activist Group may have," the company said in a statement.
The broader stock market opened strong with the Dow index rising by nearly 300 points in the morning. It tailed off through the rest of the day, however, and closed with a gain of 0.55 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were up 0.72 percent and 0.71 percent respectively. The Entrepreneur Index™, led by the huge jump of Bed Bath and Beyond, was up 0.79 percent.
The technology sector once again had mixed results today. 10 of 13 stocks on the index had gains, but they were generally modest. NVIDIA Corp. (1.78 percent) and Twitter (1.44) had the biggest jumps in the sector. Netflix (-1.71 percent), salesforce.com (-0.92 percent) and Alphabet Inc. (-0.71 percent) had the biggest declines.
Drug-makers Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Alexion Pharmaceuticals both had good days. Regeneron was up 2.69 percent while Alexion rose 3.4 percent. Regeneron stock has returned 8.6 percent so far this year, and Alexion has jumped 40.5 percent.
Oil and gas producer Hess Corp. was up 2.6 percent today as the price of oil gained 1.22 percent to close just above $60/barrel for West Texas crude. The positives of production cuts by OPEC producers and sanctions against Venezuela and Iran are outweighing demand concerns in a slowing global economic environment. Shares in Hess, one of the biggest U.S. shale oil producers, are up 50.8 percent this year.
The REITs also had a strong day. All nine stocks on the Entrepreneur Index™ were up with Kimco Realty Corp. (2.31 percent) and Macerich Company (1.99 percent) posting the biggest gains. Other notable gains on the index included automakers Tesla (2.82 percent), Ford Motor Co. (2.94 percent) and asset manager Franklin Resources (2.57 percent).
Only ten of sixty stocks on the Entrepreneur Index™ fell in price today. The biggest declines outside the tech sector were posted by homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. (-0.88 percent), retailer O'Reilly Auto Parts (-0.36 percent) and Ralph Lauren Corp. (-0.26 percent).
The Entrepreneur Index™ collects the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time on Entrepreneur.com.
