Futures are mixed, but hits in a couple of areas could weigh on investor sentiment.
Key Points
- Markets looked poised for a mixed opening.
- Shares of UiPath fell despite an earnings report that showed growth.
- Coty's stock dropped after a key investor headed for the exit.
The stock market looked poised to open mixed on Wednesday morning, as investors once again tried to balance the bullish and bearish factors at play on Wall Street. As of 7 a.m. EDT, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI) were down 18 points to 35,073. S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) futures fell 2 points to 4,518, and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) futures dropped 10 points to 15,665.79.
Unfortunately, downward moves from a couple of stocks in different areas could weigh on the market on Wednesday. Both UiPath (NYSE:PATH) and Coty (NYSE:COTY) were down sharply in premarket trading, and their combined negativity could eat away at some of the bullishness that's been pervasive in the investing community lately.
UiPath deals with disappointment
Shares of UiPath traded down 8% in pre-market trading Wednesday morning. The enterprise automation software company reported solid results, but they weren't enough to make investors happy.
These aren't the kind of robots UiPath uses, but the benefit for workers is similar. Image source: Getty Images.
UiPath's second-quarter numbers had some impressive gains. Sales were up 40% from year-ago levels, as annualized recurring revenue climbed 60% year over year. The company got contributions from both new and existing customers, as dollar-based net retention rates came in at 144% while UiPath boasted a total of 9,100 clients as of the end of the quarter.
However, a couple of things weighed on sentiment. First, UiPath saw a substantial loss of more than $100 million, translating into a $0.19-per-share loss. Perhaps more importantly, UiPath's forward guidance didn't meet every investor's expectations, with UiPath calling for full-year annualized recurring revenue to finish somewhere between $876 million and $881 million. The company also believes it will post another adjusted operating loss in the third quarter.
UiPath's robotic process automation is catching on, but that doesn't guarantee the company complete success. Instead, investors have to hope that UiPath will up its game to meet the high expectations they have for the company.
Coty's investors cash in
Meanwhile, Coty saw its stock drop about 8% in premarket trading. The move reversed a recent rally, but it made sense given that one of its key investors chose to take advantage of a recent jump in its share price to sell shares.
Investors in Coty had responded favorably to the cosmetics company's most recent earnings report in late August. Coty has been going through a substantial turnaround plan, as the business had risked falling out of fashion permanently without some big investments in the key Cover Girl brand and its other key assets.
Yet late Tuesday, Coty announced it had registered a secondary offering of 50 million shares of its stock. The offering won't raise any new capital for Coty, but it will allow an affiliate of investment firm KKR (NYSE:KKR) to sell shares it owns at the new higher price.
Investors don't like it when their institutional counterparts decide to cash out even with a relatively minor blip in price. The move over the past couple of weeks has been sizable, but the stock still trades below its best levels of the year and from where it traded before the pandemic began. To some eyes, it looks as though KKR is giving up on Coty, and that makes it hard for average investors to stay invested in the cosmetics company.
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