Why Dunkin Brands Group Inc (DNKN), Alcoa Inc (AA) and Twitter Inc (TWTR) Are 3 of Today’s Worst Stocks

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Despite spending most of the day in the red following a second day of military conflict in Syria, stocks managed to fight their way back to a gain today before the closing bell rang on a growing assumption that the Fed may be able to hold off on its impending rate hike until March. The S&P 500 ended the session at 1923.82, up a feeble 0.2%.

Why Dunkin Brands Group Inc (DNKN), Alcoa Inc (AA) and Twitter Inc (TWTR) Are 3 of Today's Worst StocksIt could have been worse, though. You could have owned Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN) or Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). Here’s why they each suffered a sizeable setback on Thursday.

Twitter Inc (TWTR)

The good news is, Twitter finally has a new CEO. The bad news is, he’s a candidate TWTR shareholders were hoping wouldn’t get the job, judging from the stock’s 8% drubbing in the wake of the news.

As it turns out, the Board of Directors seems to think acting and interim CEO Jack Dorsey is the right man for the job on a permanent basis.

Investors, however, aren’t quite as sure. Neither are some analysts.

As Nomura analyst Anthony DiClemente opined:

“… we are less certain of Jack Dorsey’s ability to drive effective structural change, particularly if he continues as CEO of Square. … Given that Mr. Dorsey has overseen Twitter since inception as CEO and Chairman, it is unclear the extent to which his ascension to permanent CEO will result in change that addresses major concerns regarding user growth trajectory and improved monetization.”

The more basic buzz surrounding TWTR on the street is simply that Dorsey won’t be effective in his role as Twitter CEO because he’ll be too distracted by his obligations at Square.

Alcoa Inc (AA)

After a decent gain on Monday following news that Alcoa would be splitting into two separate companies (upstream and downstream), AA shares started to taper off on Tuesday. Wednesday was no better, but Thursday’s 4% stumble unwound the bulk of the split-announcement jump.

What gives?

In simplest terms, the market is starting to recognize that up until the split is complete, the upstream aspect of the business is dragging down the value of the entire company.

Moreover, The Motley Fool writer Dan Caplinger very accurately pointed out that in the past, the company touted the synergies and upside of vertical integration to AA shareholders. Now those are going away, forcing investors to wonder if there’s any net fiscal benefit to the breakup at all.

Dunkin Brands Group Inc (DNKN)

Last but not least, it came as no real surprise that struggling Dunkin Brands Group — better known as the company behind Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins — offered lackluster Q3 guidance on Thursday.

What did catch DNKN investors off guard, however, was the extent to which the company is now hitting a headwind, and what some of the doughnut chain’s franchisees are doing about it.

Per its latest calculations, Dunkin Brands now expects to report a mere 1.1% same-store sales-growth rate for its third quarter of the year, down from the 2.9% same-store sales growth DNKN shareholders enjoyed from the second quarter’s earnings reports.

Worse, the company also announced one of its franchisees was planning on closing 100 kiosks found in gasoline stations by the end of 2016.

Fearing the sales slowdown and shrinking footprint are an indication of bigger trouble, the market sent DNKN down 12% on Thursday.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/10/dunkin-brands-group-inc-dnkn-alcoa-inc-aa-twitter-inc-twtr-3-todays-worst-stocks/.

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