Last Week’s Biggest Stock Movers: Vivint, Lumber Liquidators

Plenty of stocks go up and down in any given week. The gainers inspire us to keep investing. The decliners keep greed in check while reminding us about the risks of the equity markets.

Let’s go over some of last week’s best and worst performers.

Vivint Solar (VSLR) — Up 33 percent last week

One of the week’s biggest winners was Vivint Solar. The installer of solar energy systems experienced a 191 percent surge in installations and a 150 percent pop in bookings for solar panels.

Vivint Solar is still losing a lot of money in this early stage of the residential solar energy movement, but the encouraging growth was enough to take the shares into the double digits. The stock had been waffling about in the single digits since late last year.

Wayfair (W) — Up 24 percent last week

The online furniture retailer held up nicely in its first quarter as a public company. Revenue climbed 38 percent to $408.6 million. It did clock in with an adjusted loss of 18 cents a share, but that was actually considerably better than the 28-cent deficit that analysts were forecasting.

Wayfair went public in October at $29, and even though the stock popped to open at $36 in its Wall Street debut, it had fallen all the way to the teens two months later. It bounced back in a major way after last week’s report, closing just shy of its original IPO price.

NXP Semiconductor (NXPI) — Up 16 percent last week

A big merger in the chip market lifted the shares of the buyer and seller. NXP announced plans to snap up rival Freescale Semiconductor (FSL), creating a mixed signal semiconductor giant generating more than $10 billion a year in revenue.

Acquirers don’t normally move higher after announcing that they will pay a premium for a purchase, but NXP moved higher after revealing that the deal will shave off $200 million in cost savings in the first year, and eventually as much as $500 million in expense-trimming synergies.

Lumber Liquidators (LL) — Down 36 percent last week

The New York Stock Exchange’s biggest loser was Lumber Liquidators. The leading retailer of hardwood flooring took a big hit following a “60 Minutes” report claiming that its Chinese laminates contained potentially harmful levels of formaldehyde, a possible carcinogen.

It’s going to be a challenge for Lumber Liquidators to win back the trust of its customers, and the legal liabilities may mount if earlier buyers can prove that the flooring was mislabeled by the chain. At the very least, it’s a public relations nightmare for the company.

Bazaarvoice (BV) — Down 34 percent last week

Nasdaq’s biggest loser was Bazaarvoice, losing more than a third of its value after a poorly received quarterly report. Bazaarvoice helps its corporate clients dissect social data from online word-of-mouth content, turning it into actionable improvements. Revenue climbed just 14 percent despite a 30 percent uptick in active customers.

Bob Evans Farms (BOBE) — Down 21 percent last week

Bob Evans took a hit after announcing that it would not spin off its food products division. The market was hoping that the restaurant chain would unlock shareholder value by spinning off its retail sausage business. It doesn’t seem as if that will happen now, and CNBC’s Jim Cramer went on to call Bob Evans the most disappointing stock of 2015 on his “Mad Money” show.