Today’s market was positive all around, with the S&P 500, the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones all making gains. At close, the S&P 500 had put on weight at 0.26%, the Nasdaq gained 0.71% and the Dow Jones added 0.09%. The big movers on today’s market included Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE), Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), and Sequenom, Inc (NASDAQ:SQNM). Here’s why they went the way they did:
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) gained close to 30% today after the company’s earnings report, delivered on Wednesday after the market closed, beat analyst expectations by a wide margin. The estimated earnings from the company for the June quarter was 12 cents, and the company managed to put up 19 cents, blowing the market for the company’s shares wide open and resulting in unusual one day increases for a widely followed company.
The impetus behind the rise, other than the big beat, was the fact that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) showed it was a mobile company, and that the desktop business it built itself on was one the company could do well without. Facebook showed that the numbers of users using the service on mobile devices increased by more than 50% year-on-year, while mobile advertising made up around 41% of its advertising revenue in the quarter.
ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) shares gained more than 25% on today’s market after the company revealed it was planning to spin off its natural gas distribution business. The new company, which is to be called ONE Gas, will, if the process goes as planned, go public in the first quarter of next year.
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE:OKE) revealed that shareholders will retain their current shares and receive shares in the new gas distribution company. The hike in the price of the company’s shares today was the result of the new deal, as well as analyst reports that raised outlook on the announcement.
Sequenom, Inc (NASDAQ:SQNM) demonstrated that it wasn’t all good news on the Nasdaq today. The DNA analysis company disappointed on the earnings it delivered before the market opened this morning. The company revealed a loss of 27 cents per share, comparing poorly with the 21 cent loss analysts had anticipated.
Shares in the genetic testing company fell by close to 30%, a colossal collapse for almost any company, though not for Sequenom, Inc (NASDAQ:SQNM). Today’s loss leaves the company’s shares comfortably above its 12-month low, despite the poor results.
