Wall Street Falls on Global Recession Fears

Financial results send Cintas shares lower

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Mar 22, 2019
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U.S. stocks were in negative territory on Friday as an inversion in the yield curve spooked investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.42% to 25,586, the S&P 500 Index slid 1.58% to 2,809 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.99% to 7,683.

Shares of Cintas Corp. (CTAS, Financial) fell more than 6%on Friday after the company announced third-quarter results. Revenue grew 5.7% from the prior-year quarter to $1.68 billion, falling $10 million short of expectations. The company reported earnings of $1.84 per share, beating estimates by 13 cents.

The gross margin increased 7.8% to $755.2 million. The gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 44.9%, up from 44.1% in the year-ago quarter.

Operating income grew 39.1% to $278.3 million. Operating income as a percentage of revenue was 16.5%, 390 basis points higher than last year.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2019, the company is guiding for revenue to be between $6.870 billion and $6.885 billion. It projects an operating income margin in the range of 17.0% to 17.5% and earnings per share from $7.42 to $7.48.

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Global markets

The main European stock markets traded in the red. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 2.01%, France's CAC 40 plummeted 2.03%, Germany's Dax slid 1.61% and Spain's IBEX 35 declined 1.67%.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.15%, India’s BSE Sensex swelled 0.58%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng increased 0.14% and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.09%.

Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.