Ten stocks lost their steam on Wednesday, slashing significant gains from the previous days, as investors reacted to a series of industry- and company-specific developments that sparked selling positions.
The stocks bucked a mostly optimistic broader market, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 jumping 1.12 percent and 0.58 percent, respectively. The Dow Jones, on the other hand, finished flat.
This article focuses on the 10 big names that were sold down in Wednesday’s trading, alongside the reasons behind their performance.
To come up with the list, we focused exclusively on mid-cap stocks with at least $2 billion in market capitalization and 5 million shares in trading volume.
Stock market data on a laptop screen. Photo by Alesia Kozik on Pexels
10. Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR)
Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) extended its losing streak to a third straight day on Wednesday, shedding 5.17 percent to close at $23.38 apiece as investors continued to unload portfolios in gaming stocks amid growing threats posed by the surging prediction markets.
The sector has been under pressure since early this month after Robinhood Markets and Kalshi announced a jump in their trading volumes in the third quarter alone.
Robinhood said it saw 2 billion prediction contracts in the past quarter, while Kalshi’s betting volume, particularly sports betting, increased by 90 percent. The latter also gained an edge for its capability to operate in jurisdictions and age brackets currently off-limits to most gaming firms.
Kalshi earlier launched a new “build your own combo” parlay product that allows users to pair multiple contracts with a game.
The rapid rise of prediction contracts sparked sell-off across gaming stocks, including Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR), with analysts expecting users to shift online for their betting portfolios.
“These companies need to come out with a strategy for investors — whether it’s launching prediction markets or stepping up marketing,” investment firm Citizens was quoted as saying in a report by Bloomberg.
“Until that happens, the prediction markets present a risk,” it noted.
9. Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT)
Quantum Computing extended its losing streak to a third straight day on Wednesday, dropping 5.41 percent to close at $20.82 as investors sold off positions following the completion of its $750 million share sale.
On the same day, Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT) concluded its private placement offering, raising the said amount through the issuance of more than 37.18 million new shares. The drop was mainly due to the potential dilution of existing shareholders’ ownership in the company.
According to Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT), it intends to use the net proceeds to fully fund commercialization, pursue strategic acquisitions, establish volume production capabilities, expand sales and engineering personnel, working capital, and general corporate purposes.
“Total capital raised since November 2024 is now $1.64 billion, positioning [the company] with the strongest balance sheet among publicly traded quantum computing companies and providing what we believe is sufficient funding to execute our current business plan through 2028,” said Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT) CEO Yuping Huang.
“Our focus now shifts to expedite the transition from a quantum technology innovation company to a leading quantum hardware manufacturer, progressing our mission of putting quantum into the hands of people,” he added.
Hedge Fund Resource Center