Tech's biggest disasters sting investors
That'll leave a mark! Investors won't have any fond memories when it comes to recalling the third quarter of 2015. But unlucky investors holding some big tech stocks will have bruises that could take some time to recover from.
There are 10 stocks in the information technology sector of the S&P 500, including semiconductor maker Qorvo (QRVO), online media company Yahoo (YHOO) and struggling tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) that dropped 15% or more during the third quarter, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ.
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Shedding 15% during the third quarter is especially painful - as it's twice as worse as the market. The broad S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 7.9% and 7.7% respectively during the period, which is bad enough.
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But that's nothing compared to the pain suffered by investors in Qorvo, the maker of radio frequency chips for wireless devices formed this year from the merger of TriQuint Semiconductor with RF Micro Devices. Most investors might not be able to pronounce the company's name, but the loss during the quarter is big enough for anyone to understand: 44.2%.
Investors have soured on semiconductor maker shares all year - as that's the area of the tech industry that's closely connected to the performance of the broad global economy. Investors are concerned that the economy's slowdown could be a problem for the industry. Five of the 10 worst performing stocks in the information technology sector are computer chipmakers including Applied Materials, Lam Research, Micron Technology and Skyworks Solutions.
Semiconductors may be in tech investors crosshairs, but so is Yahoo. The online media company has seen its shares lose 27% of their value during the third quarter - capping off a disastrous year for the stock. Yahoo shares are down 43% this year. Investors are discouraged by the lack of improvement in the company's core online media business. Any hopes Yahoo might merge with AOL are dashed as AOL was bought by Verizon so the telecom company could own the online ad serving technology. Yahoo's adjusted quarterly profit is expected to drop 58% this year and questions surround the company's move to spin off its lucrative stake of Alibaba, which is also falling in value.
Rounding out the quarters tech disasters is Hewlett-Packard which continues to shrink trying to find a structure that actually works. The stock is down 16% during the quarter and 37% on the year - as the company sheds workers and prepares for a restructuring.
Tech is famous for being a place to win big money in stocks. But if you're in the wrong place, tech can be vicious.
WORST PERFORMING TECH STOCKS IN S&P 500 DURING THIRD QUARTER
Company, symbol, 3Q % ch.
eBay, EBAY, -60% *
Qorvo, QRVO, -44.2%
Yahoo, YHOO, -27%
Applied Materials, AMAT, -23.8%
Teradata, TDC, -23.3%
Micron Technology, MU, -20.6%
Skyworks Solutions, SWKS, -19.9%
Symantec, SYMC, -16.6%
Hewlett-Packard, HPQ, -15.6%
Source: S&P Capital IQ, USA TODAY
* - eBay split off its PayPal business to investors during the quarter. Adjusting for the split-off, shares are down 5%.