10 Firms Stealing Market Spotlight Amid Bloodbath

Ten stocks stood firmer against a broader market bloodbath on Tuesday as investors took path from a flurry of strong earnings and corporate developments. Of the 10 stocks, two surged to new all-time highs.

Meanwhile, Wall Street’s three major indices all finished in the red, with the Nasdaq down the most by 2.04 percent. The S&P 500 followed with a 1.17 percent decline, while the Dow Jones dropped by 0.53 percent.

Indices aside, we focus on the 10 companies that stood out in Tuesday’s trading session and detail the reasons behind their gains.

To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with a $2 billion market capitalization and more than 5 million shares in trading volume.

Stock market data. Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki on Pexels

10. Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands rallied for a second day on Tuesday, jumping 7.3 percent to close at $149.55 apiece after reporting a strong earnings performance in the third quarter of the year and announcing a strategic review of the struggling Pizza Hut brand.

In an updated report, Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) said it was able to grow its net income by 4 percent to $397 million from $382 million in the same period last year, as revenues increased by 8 percent to $1.98 billion from $1.83 billion year-on-year on the back of strong worldwide sales performance from Taco Bell and KFC.

Operating profit rose by 8 percent to $666 million from $619 million, while total costs and expenses increased by 9 percent to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion.

In other developments, Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) said it would review strategic options for Pizza Hut in a bid to “reach its full potential for the benefit of its franchisees, consumers, and employees and to maximize value for Yum! shareholders.”

However, it did not specify whether the review process would lead to a sale or restructuring, among other actions.

“The Pizza Hut team has been working hard to address business and category challenges; however, Pizza Hut’s performance indicates the need to take additional action to help the brand realize its full value, which may be better executed outside of Yum! Brands,” said Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Chris Turner.

“To truly take advantage of the brand we’ve built and the opportunities ahead, we’ve made the decision to initiate a thorough review of strategic options,” he noted.

9. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT)

The Goodyear grew its share prices by 7.84 percent on Tuesday to close at $7.43 apiece as investors cheered restructuring efforts and progress expected to help shave off as much as $2.2 billion in debt.

In an updated report, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT) said it targets to achieve $1.5 billion in annualized run-rate benefits by the end of the year, having delivered $185 million in the third quarter alone.

Last October 31, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT) completed the previously announced $650 million sale of its chemical business following the divestment of the OTR tire business and the Dunlop brand earlier in the year.

In other news, the company announced a 6,000 percent net loss expansion in the third quarter of the year, at $2.197 billion versus only $36 million in the same period last year. Net sales were also down by 4 percent to $4.6 billion from $4.8 billion year-on-year.