The markets suffered a tough loss today as investors had a slew of news to digest. As tech stocks continued their pullback, investors were focused on new trade war concerns, along with a rush by Congress to try and pass a spending bill to avoid yet another shutdown. The Dow 30 was lower on the day by 722, the S&P 500 lost 68, and the Nasdaq 100 sold off 178.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) shares were lower by 8% today despite the company announcing earnings above Wall Street's expectations. The company, which owns popular chains like Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's, and Capital Grille, also announced a positive outlook for the year across all its brands. Investors chose to focus on revenue, which was lower than expected, sending shares into the red for the year.
Facebook (NYSE: FB) shares were lower by 2.6% on the day as the CEO Mark Zuckerberg went on CNN to publicly address the data breach and recent ethical concerns about the social platform. For the first time, he publicly stated that he would be willing to testify before Congress himself. In his CNN appearance, Zuckerberg laid out steps that the platform is taking to make sure this does not happen again, including increasing Facebook's "bounty program" where users can be rewarded for spotting activity that breaks the company's terms of use. Shares are lower by over 8% so far this week.
Conagra Foods (NYSE: CAG) shares were slightly higher today as the company reported earnings that came in above expectations. The company, which produces brands like Peter Pan peanut butter and Redi Whip, also announced revenue which was in line with expectations, cheering investors. The company followed with General Mills' (NYSE: GIS) concerns about inflationary pressures on food costs.