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Wall Street put in a mixed performance on Wednesday. Earnings from IBM helped the Dow post a gain of nearly 250 points. However, the Nasdaq sank more than 1% after Netflix reported disappointing quarterly results.
The Netflix miss had reverberations throughout the market. In response, investors cut their positions of work-from-home plays, leading to notable declines in names like Shopify (SHOP), Twilio (TWLO), Zoom Video Communications (ZM) and DocuSign (DOCU).
Meanwhile, Disney (NYSE:DIS) also suffered in the wake of the Netflix results. Worries about growth at the Mouse House's streaming service sent the stock to a new 52-week low.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) was another notable decliner on the session. The stock dropped after a report claimed the social media giant's business had further deteriorated in the current quarter.
Looking to some of the day's standout gainers, AlloVir (ALVR) posted a double-digit percentage gain on a favorable regulatory decision. Meanwhile, earnings news sent Stride (LRN) to a fresh high.
Sector In Focus
A calamitous earnings report from Netflix prompted worries about the entire work-from-home complex, as investors bet that the post-COVID opening of the economy would drain the growth prospects from many of the names that benefited during the pandemic.
Shopify (SHOP) was among the big losers in the group, falling more than 13% on the session. Twilio (TWLO) posted a double-digit percentage decline as well, falling by about 10%.
Elsewhere in the work-at-home space, Zoom Video Communications (ZM) staged a retreat of almost 7%. Meanwhile, DocuSign (DOCU) posted a 9% decline.
Standout Gainer
A major regulatory win sparked buying in shares of AlloVir (ALVR). The news sent the stock climbing nearly 16%.
The gains followed an announcement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted another regenerative medicine advanced therapy designation for its T cell therapy posoleucel. This time, the FDA's RMAT tag relates to the use of the product to prevent infections from six viruses that often impact high-risk patients following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant.
This represents the third RMAT designation that posoleucel has received from the FDA.
Spurred by the news, ALVR rallied to a level of $8.51 early in Wednesday's session -- an advance of 57% compared to the previous day's close. Shares moderated significantly from there, but they still ended the day at $6.25. This represented a gain of 84 cents on the session.
With the advance, ALVR came further off a 52-week low of $5.19 set over the past couple of days. Shares remain well off a 52-week high of $26.41 set early last year. Even with Wednesday's jump, the stock remains about 75% below its levels of a year ago.
Standout Loser
Meta Platforms (FB) dropped almost 8% after a research firm presented evidence pointing to a substantial slowdown in the Facebook parent company's recent business.
Cleveland Research issued a note stating that FB's business in the current quarter has slowed even more than in the previous fiscal period. The firm based its conclusion on channel checks.
FB finished at $200.42, a decline of $16.89 on the session. Shares had fallen off a cliff in February amid a shockingly disappointing Q4 earnings report and continued to retreat to a 52-week low of $185.82 in the first half of March.
The stock saw a recovery that lasted through late March and the early days of April but has been losing ground again lately. Wednesday's slide took FB to its lowest close since March 15.
Notable New High
Earnings news sparked a rally in Stride (LRN), as increased demand for career training pushed shares of the education technology firm nearly 15% higher. The advance took the stock to a fresh 52-week high.
The company beat expectations on both its top and bottom lines, including a nearly 8% rise in revenues. The top-line figure grew to nearly $422M. LRN saw a 38% advance in enrollment for its adult career learning programs.
Bolstered by the better-than-expected results, LRN rose $5.25 on Wednesday to finish at $40.60. Shares also established a fresh intraday 52-week high of $41.20.
Notable New Low
Disney (DIS) sank to a new low, dragged down by streaming worries generated by the disastrous earnings report from rival Netflix. DIS dropped nearly 6% on the session, falling to a fresh 52-week nadir.
Late Tuesday, Netflix revealed a disappointing earnings report, sparking a 35% drop in its share price. The company revealed a decline in its subscriber base, blaming the disappointing figure on competition, a high penetration rate among potential customers and the sharing of passwords.
The overall concern about streaming saturation hit rivals like DIS as well. Shares of the entertainment giant were pulled down by fears that its Disney+ streaming service would see a similar drop-off in subscriber interest.
As a result, DIS retreated $7.33 to close Wednesday's action at $124.57. Shares also reached an intraday 52-week low of $124.11.
DIS has seen intermittent selling pressure since early November, when it traded above $175. Shares have fallen about 29% since that time.
For more on the day's biggest winners and losers, head over to Seeking Alpha's On The Move section.