Nike Inc (NKE) Down After Earnings Report, Plus 4 Other Tumbling Stocks

Having tanked by more than 25% yesterday, Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) opened lower this morning and continues to trade in the red, currently down by roughly 8%. Investors rushed for the exits yesterday after news emerged that the troubled solar company was in negotiations with certain debt holders in order to finance a debtor-in-possession facility. Such a type of financing is usually employed by companies undergoing a restructuring under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This debt is senior to existing debt, equity and other claims. In simple terms, this indicates that SunEdison is basically out of cash. The worst performing stock in 2015, Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) plunged by more than 95% during the year. That led many hedge funds to abandon the stock, with long positions in it dropping to 50 at the end of 2015 from 80 at the end of 2014. Billionaire David Einhorn recently went activist on SunEdison and managed to get a seat on the company’s board of directors. The solar company’s management has also agreed to his demand not to issue any new shares over the next two years without a “supermajority vote” from the board.

Shares of Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF) are down by more than 10% mid-morning after news emerged that the company’s CEO will depart. Having run Pinnacle Foods for approximately seven years, Robert Gamgort will leave the company at the end of April to head Keurig Green Mountain Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR), a seller of coffee machines that was acquired by JAB Holding Co earlier this year. Pinnacle’s board of directors has announced that it will look for a replacement both within and outside the company. Since the start of the year the company’s stock has been trending up, having advanced by 10% before today’s plunge. Hedge funds sought to distance themselves from the stock during the fourth quarter, with the number of funds invested in it having dropped to 27 at the end of December from 37 a quarter earlier. Contrary to the trend, Eric W. Mandelblatt is bullish on Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF), having increased his fund’s stake by 5% during the quarter. According to its latest 13F filing, Soroban Capital Partners holds a little over 5.61 million shares of Pinnacle Foods.

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