The Entrepreneur Index™ See-Saws as Tech and Drug Stocks Take a Hit Earnings-fueled gains weren't enough to save the day.
By Andrew Osterland •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Stock indexes see-sawed for most of the day, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all ending the day down moderately. The technology-weighted Nasdaq, down 0.36 percent, fell furthest.
The Entrepreneur Index™ closed the day down 0.76 percent with weakness in technology and drug stocks outweighing a couple of good earnings-fueled gains on the index.
Chief among those gains was Cognizant Technology. The provider of professional and IT services to businesses beat earnings and sales estimates for the fourth quarter and gave forward guidance in-line with expectations. The stock was up 4.62 percent, the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™ today. Cognizant also announced the appointment of Brian Humphries as the new CEO. Current CEO and co-founder of the company Francisco D'Souza will become executive vice-chairman of the board.
Medical device-maker Boston Scientific Corp. up 2.7 percent, also got a nice bump from good financial results. It beat consensus earnings estimates for the fourth straight quarter and also surprised on sales. Lagging the broader market recently, its now up 9.71 percent so far this year, surpassing the 8.97 percent gain of the S&P 500 index.
Cerner Corp. was initially rewarded quite handsomely for a so-so earnings report. The provider of IT services for healthcare companies, met earnings estimates but missed slightly on revenues. Earnings guidance was also slightly lower than consensus estimates. The stock was nevertheless up as much as five percent in early trading before investors thought twice. It closed the day up 1.55 percent.
Casino-operator Wynn Resorts gained 3.32 percent today. The stock is up nearly 33 percent this year, despite worries about an economic slowdown in China where it operates three casinos. Of course, the stock is still down more than 30 percent since last spring when concerns about the Chinese economy, (and Chinese gambling activity in Macau), began to surface.
Semiconductor chip-makers NVIDIA Corp. (2.03 percent), and Analog Devices, (2.0 percent), also posted good gains today.
Technology stocks, however, were generally lower. Alphabet Inc. fell 2.68 percent, a day after strong but mixed financial results got a tepid reaction from investors. The other three FAANG stocks on the index were also down, with Amazon.com, (-1.12 percent), falling the most.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had the biggest decline on the Entrepreneur Index™ today, down 3.44 percent. The drug-maker handily beat earnings and revenue estimates with results released this morning, but the stock still fell--likely because of valuation concerns. It is down almost six percent since setting a 52-week high last Friday, but is still up 8.85 percent this year.
Estee Lauder Companies, (-1.16 percent) gave back some of the nearly twelve percent gain it had yesterday after reporting strong earnings. Other notable declines on the Entrepreneur Index™ today included pipeline operator Kinder Morgan, (-2.22 percent), Gap Inc. (-2.1 percent) and homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. (-2.14 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.
