Groupon (NASDAQ:) — one of the big initial public offerings of 2011 — dropped a dud after the bell Wednesday in its first earnings report as a publicly traded company, and GRPN stock was being hammered in after-hours trading.
The daily deals site reported a fourth-quarter loss of $42.7 million (8 cents per share). The figure was an improvement from a loss of $378.6 million ($1.08) in the year-ago period, and it came on an almost 200% increase in revenues, to $506 million. However, the adjusted loss of 2 cents per share came in under analyst expectations for a 3 cent-per-share profit, and investors took GRPN shares down more than 10% soon after the report.
Also on the IPO front, Caesars Entertainment’s (NASDAQ:) initial public offering was a hit with investors Wednesday, who drove the casino operator’s shares up more than 70% — to $15.39 — from their original listing price of $9. However, the IPO itself was fairly small, raising just $16 million.
Otherwise, Wednesday saw traders keep a close eye on Greece, with the major indices barely budging, though numerous big tech and financial stocks headed higher throughout the day.
Bank of America (NYSE:) finished above the $8 threshold for the first time since August, gaining 3.6% to finish at $8.13. Citigroup (NYSE:) also enjoyed a 3.5% gain to land at $34.23, and Wells Fargo (NYSE:) was up a modest 1.2% at $30.63.
Among tech stocks headed higher were health care IT firm Cerner (NASDAQ:), which gained more than 13% on a fourth-quarter earnings increase of 30% on better-than-expected revenue, as well as increased bookings. Also up were graphics processor maker Nvidia (NASDAQ:, +3.6%) after news of a patent settlement with Rambus
(NASDAQ:), and semiconductor stock Micron (NASDAQ:, +3.7%), which earlier this week appointed Mark Duncan to CEO after the death of Steve Appleton.
Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:) was one of the biggest jumpers of the day, soaring more than 17% after reporting an earnings increase of 33% in the most recent quarter. The company also recently announced it would extend its testing of Apple (NASDAQ:) iPads for use by customers in its restaurants.
Three Up
- Computer Sciences (NYSE:): Up 18.5% ($4.91) to $31.39.
- Ralph Lauren (NYSE:): Up 9.2% ($14.42) to $171.49. (Read more about Ralph Lauren here.)
- Hartford Financial (NYSE:): Up 7.6% ($1.46) to $20.58.
Three Down
- Western Union (NYSE:): Down 10% ($1.97) to $17.73.
- Panera Bread (NASDAQ:): Down 7.2% ($11.55) to $148.47.
- Dendreon (NASDAQ:): Down 4.3% (69 cents) to $15.27.
Kyle Woodley is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Check out recaps from previous trading days here.
