Massive Sell-Off: 10 Stocks in a Bloodbath

Ten stocks fell heavily on Thursday, recording whopping double-digit declines while mirroring a broader market pessimism, as investors disposed of positions following dismal earnings and growth outlooks.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones fell by 0.74 percent, the S&P 500 declined by 0.37 percent, and the Nasdaq dipped by 0.03 percent.

In this article, we name the 10 worst-performing stocks on Thursday and detail the reasons behind their lagging performance.

To compile the list, we focused on stocks with more than $2 billion in capitalization and 5 million shares in trading volume.

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10. The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

The Cigna Group declined by 10.23 percent on Thursday to close at $267.38 apiece as investor sentiment was dampened by its flat earnings performance in the second quarter of the year.

In its updated report, The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) said net income attributable to shareholders ended flat at $1.5 billion, despite total revenues increasing by 11 percent to $67.18 billion from $60.5 billion.

Higher revenues were driven by Evernorth Health Services and include growth of existing client relationships and strong specialty pharmacy growth.

In a statement, The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Chairman and CEO David Cordani said that the company’s performance in the second quarter reflects the disciplined execution and the strength of the group’s business mix.

“Listening, adapting, and innovating to meet the evolving needs of our patients, customers, and clients enables us to deliver meaningful value,” he noted.

9. International Paper Company (NYSE:IP)

International Paper extended its losses for a fourth straight day on Thursday, slashing 12.85 percent to close at $46.74 apiece after reporting a disappointing earnings performance in the second quarter of the year.

In the first six months of the year, International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) fell to a net loss of $30 million from a $554 million net income in the same period last year. Meanwhile, it registered a $75-million net income in the second quarter alone, albeit an 85-percent drop from $498 million in the same period last year.

Net sales for the six-month period, however, increased by 35 percent to $12.67 billion from $9.35 billion year-on-year, while net sales for the quarter grew by 43 percent to $6.77 billion from $4.73 billion.

“Our second quarter results reflect a full quarter of our combined International Paper and DS Smith packaging businesses, as we effectively implement 80/20 strategies,” said International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) CEO Andy Silvernail.

“In Packaging Solutions North America, our commercial efforts are driving increased revenue, and we experienced seasonally higher volumes and a stable demand environment. However, margins slipped as we continue to face cost headwinds, and we executed a heavy outage schedule. In Europe, demand remained soft and there was a significant increase in depreciation and amortization expense resulting from our acquisition,” he added.

Looking ahead, International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) posted a more optimistic outlook for the third quarter, but failed to provide target figures on key metrics.