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Weak Earnings, Outlook Drag Shares of These 10 Firms on Thursday

The stock market finished firmer on Thursday, as investors cheered fresh inflation data and tariff updates that helped alleviate concerns about inflationary pressures and global trade tensions.

The Dow Jones rose by 0.77 percent, the S&P 500 increased 1.04 percent, while the Nasdaq jumped 1.50 percent.

Despite overall market gains, ten companies managed to register declines, mostly due to disappointing earnings performance, a weaker outlook, and downgraded ratings.

In this article, we have listed the 10 worst-performing stocks and detailed the reasons behind their declines.

To come up with Thursday’s top losers, we considered only the stocks with at least $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in daily trading volume.

A person with stock market data on a laptop. Photo by Anna Nekrashevich on Pexels

10. Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE:KGC)

Shares of Kinross Gold dropped by 6.09 percent on Thursday to close at $11.41 apiece as investors disposed of holdings in the company after missing analyst estimates.

In its latest earnings release, KGC said earnings per share for the fourth quarter of the year stood at $0.20, missing the consensus of $0.25.

Investors appeared to have discounted the company’s performance last year, with net income expanding by 321 percent to $275.6 million from $65.4 million year-on-year. Meanwhile, net profit for the full year surged by 127.9 percent to $948.8 million from $416.3 million.

Sales, on the other hand, jumped by 27 percent to $1.4 billion during the quarter from $1.1 billion year-on-year, while also growing 21 percent to $5.1 billion from $4.2 billion.

KGC is a Canadian-based global senior gold mining company with operations and projects in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile, and Canada.

9. Nuscale Power Corp. (NYSE:SMR)

Nuscale Power saw its share prices decline by 6.4 percent on Thursday to end at $24.71 apiece as investors resorted to profit-taking following a surge in Thursday’s valuation.

Analysts were generally bullish about the company’s business outlook amid ongoing plans from the US government to prioritize ramping up energy resources to power homes and businesses, while also taking advantage of an expected increase in energy demand to bolster the Artificial Intelligence industry. Both factors were expected to bolster SMR’s growth.

For its part, the International Energy Agency (IEA) posted a bullish outlook for SMR in particular due to its heavy focus on small modular reactors, with the IEA regarding the business as particularly promising.

8. British American Tobacco PLC (NYSE:BTI)

British American Tobacco sank by 7.32 percent on Thursday to end at $39.61 apiece as investors sold off positions following dismal earnings performance in 2024, coupled with continued expected headwinds for the rest of the year.

On Thursday, BTI announced a drop of 5.2 percent in revenues at £25.87 billion, primarily due to the sale of its business in Russia and Belarus in September 2023, coupled with translational foreign exchange headwinds. Meanwhile, analysts expected the company to clock in revenues worth £26.11 billion.

For this year, BTI expects significant regulatory and fiscal headwinds to persist, particularly in its combustibles performance in Bangladesh and Australia.

However, BTI CEO Tadeu Marroco said he is confident that the company will progressively build on its delivery as it shifts from investment to deployment.

“We remain committed to returning to our mid-term guidance of 3-5 percent revenue and 4-6 percent adjusted profit from operations growth on a constant currency in 2026,” he said.

7. Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG)

Datadog’s share prices plummeted by 8.24 percent on Thursday to end at $135.89 each as investors disposed of positions in the company following a downgraded outlook from an investment bank.

In a statement, Wells Fargo gave DDOG a downgraded rating of “equal weight” from “overweight” previously, following its weak outlook for the first quarter and full year of 2025. The rating overshadowed its better-than-expected earnings performance last year, with net income expanding 278 percent to $183.7 million from $48.57 million in 2023.

The jump in net income was achieved despite poor fourth-quarter results, with net earnings for the quarter declining 15 percent to $45.59 million from $53.99 million.

For this year, DDOG said it expects revenues for the full year to settle between $3.175 billion and $3.195 billion, as well as adjusted earnings per share ranging between $1.65 and $1.7.

6. PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF)

PBF Energy retreated for the second day on Thursday, losing 12.78 percent to close at $23.21 apiece as investor sentiment was dampened by the company’s third consecutive quarter of losses.

On Thursday, PBF said it swung to a net loss of $533.8 million, attributable to shareholders, in the full year 2024, reversing a net income of $2.14 billion in 2023.

Meanwhile, attributable net loss in the fourth quarter alone expanded by nearly 500 percent to $289.3 million from $48.4 million year-on-year.

Revenues for the quarter also dropped 19.6 percent to $7.35 billion from $9.14 billion year-on-year, while revenues for the full year declined 13.6 percent to $33.11 billion from $38.32 million in 2023.

“Global refining markets remain structurally tight, and capacity rationalization and demand growth are expected to exceed new refinery additions. In this environment, PBF’s complex, predominantly coastal refining system, is well-positioned for the next cycle,” said PBF President and CEO Matthew Lucey.

5. Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Cognex Corp. fell by 13.58 percent on Thursday to end at $33.92 apiece as investors sold off positions after disappointing earnings performance last year.

In a statement, CGNX said full-year net income declined by 6 percent to $106 million from $113 million, despite an impressive 152-percent jump in net income for the fourth quarter alone, to $28.3 million from $11.2 million year-on-year.

For the first quarter of 2025, CGNX expects revenues to settle between $200 million and $220 million, flat from the same period in 2024, on the back of expected growth in logistics and semiconductors, offset by weaker automotive and a $5-million foreign exchange headwind.

CGNX is a US-based company manufacturing machine vision systems, software, and sensors used in automated manufacturing to inspect and identify parts, detect defects, verify product assembly, and guide assembly robots.

4. GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE:GXO)

GXO Logistics nosedived by 15.08 percent on Thursday, ending the day at $36.31 apiece as investor sentiment was dampened by a soft 2025 outlook, coupled with mixed earnings performance in 2024.

In a statement, GXO said attributable net income in the fourth quarter of 2024 jumped 37 percent to $100 million from $73 million, as revenues grew by 25 percent to $3.25 billion from $2.59 billion.

However, net income in full year 2024 fell 41 percent to $134 million from $229 million in 2023, despite revenues growing 19.6 percent to $11.7 billion from $9.78 billion.

For 2025, the company expects organic revenues to grow between 3 to 6 percent.

“Our guidance for 2025 reflects our confidence in our core business growth, the phasing of startups, the impact of foreign exchange, and our current expectation of the timing of the Wincanton regulatory review. The strength of our pipeline and the pace of our new business wins continue to benefit from the structural tailwinds—outsourcing, automation, and e-commerce—at our backs,” said GXO CEO Malcolm Wilson.

3. Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE:HBI)

Hanesbrands plummeted by 18.51 percent on Thursday, finishing at $6.25 apiece as investors sold off positions following disappointing earnings performance last year coupled with the company’s announcement of a change in leadership.

In its earnings release, HBI swung to a net loss of $12.88 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, reversing a $77.9 million net income posted in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, net losses in full-year 2024 skyrocketed by 1,708 percent to $320 million from $17.7 million in 2023.

Revenues for the quarter grew 4.4 percent to $888 million from $850 million year-on-year, but revenues for full-year 2024 dipped by 3.6 percent to $3.507 billion from $3.639 billion in 2023.

On the same day, HBI announced that its CEO, Steve Bratspies, is stepping down from his post by the end of the year, or as soon as a successor is named. He will also exit from the company’s board of directors.

For the first quarter of the year, HBI expects net sales from continuing operations to settle between $3.47 billion and $3.52 billion, which includes projected headwinds of approximately $60 million from foreign exchange rates.

2. Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD)

Trade Desk fell by 32.98 percent on Thursday to end at $81.92 apiece after it earned a downgraded rating from an investment research company.

On Thursday, Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney cut his rating for TTD to “hold” from “buy” due to mixed financial results and underperformance in key areas, while also cutting his price target for the company by 33 percent to $90 from $135 previously.

The downgrade came after TTD missed internal revenue expectations for the first time in eight years, with figures settling at $741 million, or lower than analyst consensus of $758 million and internal guidance of $756 million.

In a statement, TTD CEO Jeff Green acknowledged the company’s performance in 2024, but said that he was disappointed “for falling short of our expectations in the fourth quarter.”

“In 2025 and beyond, we are uniquely positioned to help our clients take full advantage of data-driven advertising on the premium internet, helping them drive growth and brand loyalty for their businesses,” he said.

1. West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST)

West Pharmaceutical nosedived by 38.22 percent on Thursday to close at $199.11 apiece as investors sold off positions following a drop in its net income performance coupled with a pessimistic outlook for this year.

On Thursday, WST said net income for the fourth quarter of 2024 declined by 5 percent to $130.1 million from $137 million in the same period in 2023, while net income for the full year 2024 declined by 16.97 percent to $492.7 million from $593.4 million in 2023.

Net sales for the quarter, however, were higher by 2 percent to $748.8 million from $732 million, while net sales for the full-year period dipped by 1.9 percent to $2.893 billion from $2.949 billion year-on-year.

For this year, the company said it targets diluted earnings per share to settle between $5.97 to $6.17, a significant drop from the $6.69 actually reported in 2024.

While we acknowledge the potential of WST as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WST but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap.

Disclosure. None. Insider Monkey focuses on uncovering the best investment ideas of hedge funds and investors. Please subscribe to our daily free newsletter to get the latest investment ideas from hedge funds’ investor letters by entering your email address below.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

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  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
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Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

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