LONDON — Despite closing Friday with a one-day rise of 76 points, the FTSE 100 had another down week, dropping 171 points (2.6%) to end at 6,412. But its ending above the 6,400 level appeared to please some unFoolish people, for no good reason — these absolute levels are, in reality, completely meaningless. Overall, the FTSE is now down 464 points from its May 22 peak of 6,876 — but it has still gained 18% over the past 12 months.
We’ve mostly seen falls in individual stock prices this week, though there have been one or two risers. Here are four of the week’s movers.
Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO)
Warren Buffett’s favourite U.K. supermarket, Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO), saw its price drop 19 pence (5%) on Wednesday to 346 pence, after the company revealed a fall in U.K. like-for-like sales in its first quarter — and it finished the week at the same level. The fall was blamed on “disproportionate exposure to consumer electronics” and changes to Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO)’s General Merchandise strategy, with food sales having a good quarter. There’s still a fall in earnings forecast for the full year, but the stock is at a P/E of only 10.5, and there’s a 4.1% dividend yield forecast.
Aberdeen Asset Management plc (LON:ADN)
A number of high-flying stocks have been falling, through no fault of their own, and among them is Aberdeen Asset Management plc (LON:ADN). After climbing to a peak of 492 pence on May 28, the price has fallen back to 420 pence — dropping 46 pence (10%) in the past week alone. But even after that fall, Aberdeen Asset Management plc (LON:ADN) is still up 65% over the past 12 months. And it’s at a forward P/E of only 14 based on current forecasts, with a dividend yield of 3.2% expected, so the latest dip might prove to be a buying opportunity.
ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH)
Chip designer ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH) is another of those high-flyers that’s vulnerable to a market downturn, and this week its price dipped by 123 pence (12%) to 865 pence — and it’s down 246 pence (22%) since a peak of 111 pence on May 21. And if we’re talking of high valuations, this is a lofty one — forecasts put ARM at a forward P/E of 42, which is three times the FTSE average of 14. Is that too high? Well, high-growth shares are often in such high valuations, and there’s certainly a lot of expansion to come in the mobile computing market.
GKN plc (LON:GKN)
But it wasn’t all gloom, with one or two gains, including GKN plc (LON:GKN). The aero and auto engineer enjoyed a rise of 11 pence (3.7%) to end the week at 309 pence. The year to December 2013 is expected to be flat in terms of earnings, but there’s a 14% rise being forecast for 2014, which would put GKN on for forward P/E of 10 — and that’s even after the price has soared 65% over the past year.
What now?
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The article FTSE Shares That Soared and Plunged This Week originally appeared on Fool.com.
Alan Oscroft has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Tesco.
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