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A Friday rally took the edge off, but Communications Services stocks still reversed to another down week in 2022 – outperforming the broader market but still weighed down by heavy sell-offs in the past several days.
The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLC) in fact sank to a 52-week low on Thursday at the open. The week’s overall decline of 0.6% brings the fund’s 2022 performance to -24.6%.
And performance among individual names showed some reversals; some stocks keeping the faith; and some bids still being found for defensive telecom names.
Leading the sector’s large-cap gainers for the week was Roblox (NYSE:RBLX), up 18.6% for the period after analysts found a lot to like in an earnings report that had missed expectations with declining bookings.
Roblox (RBLX) had been among the sector’s top decliners last week, adding some elasticity to this week’s bounce.
Trailing Roblox among large-cap gainers was Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), up 8.4% for the week for much the same reason: analysts seeing a clear path to more growth despite expectations of slowing bookings. Lumen Technologies (LUMN) gained 6.2% this week, a relief rally for a stock that had fallen 20% over six months.
On the losers side of the sheet, a slow trickling decline for Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) became a flood on Friday the 13th. The stock was the sector’s biggest loser among large-cap stocks by far, down 18.2% – but it shed 9.7% of value just on Friday with the early news that presumed buyer Elon Musk was putting his $44 buyout “on hold.“
The second-biggest loser, Shaw Communications (NYSE:SJR), fell 7.9% on the week and was down from the opening bell Monday after last weekend’s news that Canadian regulators planned to block its acquisition by rival Rogers Communications (RCI).
And among other notable decliners, Dish Network slid on Friday, May 6, after a disappointing earnings report, and just kept slipping into the new week, wrapping up the period down 6.1%.
The top five gainers over the past five sessions among large-cap Communications Services stocks and larger ($10B market cap or more):
- Roblox (RBLX), +18.6%;
- Electronic Arts (EA), +8.4%;
- Lumen Technologies (LUMN), +6.2%;
- News Corp. (NWS), +6.2%;
- SK Telecom (SKM), +5.4%.
The top five decliners over the past five sessions among large-cap Communications Services stocks and larger ($10B market cap or more):
