Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Source: NYSE
Some of the once high-flying tech stocks have reversed course and shaved high percentages off their stock prices, after rising bond yields raised concerns about valuations and higher interest rates.
Investors saw a rapid rise in bond yields, which move inversely to prices, over the past few weeks. As rates jumped, tech shares (especially ones with lofty valuations and little to no profit) traded lower.
That came as Wall Street also expected strong economic recovery as some pandemic restrictions are lifted and vaccines continue to roll out, so they poured into more cyclical stocks. There was also the fear that pandemic recovery could lead to concerning levels of inflation, which may hit tech stocks especially hard as they’ve been relying on easy borrowing for superior growth.
Tech shares hinted toward recovery in the premarket Tuesday as bond yields stabilized, leading investors to buy into the dip. However, the early rise in share prices Tuesday didn’t completely recoup some of the losses.
CNBC compiled a list of some of the notable tech companies that have shed more than 20% this year as of Tuesday morning:
- C3.ai was among the biggest shedders, down more than 39% for the year. The company’s stock was up 2.5% in the premarket. The enterprise artificial intelligence company recently released its first earnings report as a public company, disappointing investors.
- Video game software developer Unity has shed nearly 37% for the year. The company’s stock was up about 4.4% in the premarket. Shares began to fall in February after the company provided a forecast that failed to meet analysts’ most optimistic estimates.
- StichFix shed more than 29% this year, with steep losses following the company’s latest earnings report that was released Monday afternoon. StichFix’s revenue came in short of Wall Street forecasts. The company also cut guidance for the fiscal year that begins in July due to lengthened cycle times. Shares were down more than 22% in the premarket.
- Lemonade was also trading down 26%. Shares were up about 4.2% in the premarket. The insurance company issued conservative guidance for this year as part of its fourth quarter 2020 earnings on Monday.
- Cloud software vendor Qualtrics was down nearly 23% from its first day of trading on Jan 28. Shares were up 2.6% in the premarket.
- Snowflake has lost more than 21%, as investors pull back from what some called bubble-like valuations. The stock was up 3.7% in the premarket.
- Software company Splunk has shed about 21% this year. Shares were up 2.6% in the premarket.
