Why Are These 5 Stocks Deep in the Red Today?

Analyst downgrades can have a lot of bite, as Boot Barn Holdings Inc (NYSE:BOOT)‘s price action has shown today. Shares of Boot Barn Holdings Inc (NYSE:BOOT) are down by roughly 15% after JP Morgan’s Matthew R. Boss downgraded the stock to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ and cut his price target on it to $7 per share from $11. Boss downgraded Boot Barn Holdings because his field research has suggested that the apparel segment has slowed sharply in the latter half of March and remains weak in early April, despite the favorable weather and strong economy. Boss wrote:

“Our multi-region checks point to moderating top-line trends in 2H March (& 1Q17-to-date) with elevated promotional activity across both apparel and boots (we estimate ~25% of the store with some level of markdown exceeding BOOT’s 90%/10% full-price to promotion target model structure) and rising levels of clearance inventory (apparel/accessories).”

The increased promotional activity could translate to weaker than expected earnings. Three funds in our database held roughly 5.3% of Boot Barn Holdings Inc (NYSE:BOOT)’s float as of the end of December.

Lastly, biotech momentum stock Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CPXX) is off by 7.2% this afternoon on moderate volume on the back of profit taking and broader biotech weakness. Given that shares of the stock have surged from $2 in early March to over $12 as of today, some investors are likely just taking some money off of the table. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) is also off by roughly 1.6% this afternoon. Three elite funds that we track held 3% of the company’s float as of December 31. Furthermore, after Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CPXX) surged on March 15, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management initiated a stake in the company consisting of 2.86 million shares.

Disclosure: None