By: Mark Fitzgerald Wall Street beat up The McClatchy Co. Wednesday, reacting to its first-quarter tumble in revenue by bidding its stock down to an all-time low.
McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) ended 4 p.m. EDT trading at $8.30, off 57 cents, or 6.93%. It had traded in a 52-week range of $8.32 to $39.32.
Before markets opened, McClatchy reported a narrow loss of $993,000, or 1 cent per share, on revenue that fell 13.8%. Ad revenue was down 15.3% on results that included a 35.8% plunge in real estate classified and a 33.4% tumble in help-wanted classified.
On a day in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 42.99 points, investors were not in much of a mood to buy newspaper stocks. Three companies hit new 52-week lows, and Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) closed at its previous 52-week bottom of $7.26, ending the day off 23 cents, or 2.94%.
Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) closed at $25.86, down $1.60, or 5.83%. Its previous 52-week range had been $27.25 to $61.68.
On the eve of its annual meeting -- and a proxy confrontation with the dissident shareholder group Harbinger Capital Partners -- Media General (NYSE: MEG) closed at a new 52-week low of $13.40, off 51 cents, or 3.67%. Its previous range had been $13.77 to 38.65.
The recently created newspaper pure-play A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC) established a new low of $9.69, falling 86 cents, or 8.15% from its opening. Its chairman, Robert Decherd, warned Tuesday that its first-quarter results will be worse than had been expected. A.H. Belo previously traded in a range of $10.15 to $16.35.
The New York Times Co., E.W. Scripps Co., and Journal Register Co. all ended trading on the upside.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here