A third-straight day of gains on the stock market has seen the S&P/ASX 300 (INDEXASX: XKO) (ASX: XKO) close up 0.5% at 5,633.30. The index gained 4.2% for the month of July.
But it wasn't all great news for every stock. These five took a pummelling…
GI Dynamics Inc (ASX: GID) was smashed down 68.9% to 4.2 cents. The medical device manufacturer looks on increasingly dangerous ground, after reporting it would prematurely terminate one of its clinical trials and in a second blow, revenues had more than halved in the last quarter. You can read our full coverage here.
Unilife Corporation (ASX: UNS) sank 25.4% to 44 cents – after rising 33.3% yesterday. The biotech stock released its quarterly report today and it seems clear that the company was going to run out of money next quarter. That was until they signed a deal with two investors, Lincoln Park Capital and Cantor Fitzgerald, which could bring in up to US$70 million over time but dilute existing shareholders.
Australian Dairy Farms Group (ASX: AHF) fell 10.5% to 17 cents. The company announced that it was acquiring an additional farm in the South Western dairy region of Victoria today, but declined to release financial details until next week. The company expects to see strong positive operating cashflow in the next two quarters, but perhaps shareholders were expecting this quarter to be positive as well.
Uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) fell 8.9% to 20.5 cents, but shares rose strongly yesterday. Management announced that executive pay would be slashed to further cut costs, which the market liked, but it may be too little too late. Paladin has been operating with too high costs for many years, destroying shareholder value and needs more than executive pay cuts to make it investment grade.
Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) fell 8% to 69 cents. The company also released its quarterly report today, which included upbeat commentary from management. Somehow, investors weren't happy though, perhaps expecting more than the company delivered. Alexium holds a number of patents to develop flame retardant treatments for synthetic fabrics which looks very promising – one reason why the company's shares have soared 655% in the past 12 months.
