Momentum stocks stall

Priceline (PCLN) and Tesla (TSLA) were sharply lower Thursday, even after both companies beat Wall Street estimates in their latest quarterly reports.

Tesla reported after the close Wednesday, beating estimates by $0.02. Revenue came in at $713 million, better than the $699 million analysts were expecting, but it apparently wasn’t enough for investors. The stock was lower in reaction to news that constraints in battery supplies will limit production in the second quarter and spending on its growth plans, including its “gigafactory,” will leave the company with a negative cash flow for the year.

Priceline reported before the bell that earnings per share beat estimates handily, coming in at $7.81 versus estimates of $6.92. Revenue was just slightly better than expected. And still, the stock was under pressure in early trading.

Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli said the investor reaction to the news is evidence that Wall Street is falling back on the old market adage: buy on the rumor, sell on the news. “We’re still selling the big hyper-growth names on the news,” said Santoli. “That’s the lesson from both Tesla and Priceline.”

Santoli also said Priceline offered guidance for the current quarter that was slightly below Wall Street’s expectations. “I think at the moment it’s a bit of a shoot first environment when it comes to these expensive stocks that had very high growth expectations coming into the year.”

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