3 Up, 3 Down- Week of February 17th
By: Miles J. Bronstein
Up:
Facebook, Inc. (FB)- The social network behemoth announced its massive $19 billion acquisition of messaging app Whatsapp this week. Immediately following the announcement, shares of FB dropped as much as 6 percent. Nevertheless, sentiment changed as the week continued and shares soared almost 7 percent, reaching the $70 a share mark on Thursday.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/20/tech/mobile/facebook-whatsapp-changes/
Tesla Motors Inc.- Shares of the electronic luxury carmaker rose more than 10 percent this week after announcing better than expected earnings. Overall, the company is still not profitable and with capital expenditures and forecasted costs, reported a net loss of 13 cents a share. Nevertheless, Tesla plans to expand to China this year and forecasted a 55% percent increase in vehicle sales. Shares closed at $209.60 Friday.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101428802
Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS)- Shares of the struggling book retailer Barnes & Noble jumped almost 30 percent this week to $17.69 after G Asset Management offered to pay $22 a share, a 31% percent premium, for a 51 percent stake in the company.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303636404579397172532126040?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
Down:
PotBelly Corp (PBPB)- The Chicago based sandwich shop chain announced disappointing earnings in its second quarterly report, ever. Though revenue increased by close to 2 percent, profits proved disappointing. PBPB reported a net loss of 13 cents per share. Shares were down 5.9 percent for the week.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2014/02/18/potbelly-wobbles-after-sandwich-shop-reports-profit-drop/
Groupon Inc. (GRPN)- Shares of Chicago’s biggest technology company were pummeled this week after announcing better than expecting earnings but forecasting increased costs in the coming quarter. Shares of the company closed down more than 26 percent this week.
http://www.businessinsider.com/groupon-q4-earnings-2014-2
Bitcoin- The controversial and increasingly ubiquitous virtual currency has experienced extreme volatility and losses in the past weeks. Just two weeks ago, a Bitcoin was worth $829 on online exchange, Mt. Gox. Today, the exchange price quoted was a modest $124. The decline in Bitcoin’s value is a result of the shutdown and arrest of Bitcoin exchange BitStant’s founder, Charlie Schrem. In addition, Mt. Gox was shutdown this past week after a security breach, preventing any withdrawals on the exchange and causing havoc in the virtual currency market. These events underscore the volatility and risk of holding Bitcoins and the challenges that face virtual currencies today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-21/bitcoins-offered-on-mt-gox-drop-as-withdrawals-halted.html
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
