Earnings drive Acuity to top industrial gainer of week, Plug Power sees loser tag

The Industrial Select Sector (XLI) climbed +0.61% for the week ending Jan. 12, while the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) rose +1.87%.

The top five gainers in the industrial sector (stocks with a market cap of over $2B) all gained more than +6% each this week.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) +9.34%. The lighting products maker saw its stock soar +11.48% on Tuesday after first quarter non-GAAP EPS beat estimates.

AYI has a SA Quant Rating — which takes into account factors such as Momentum, Profitability, and Valuation among others — of Hold. The stock has a factor grade of B+ for Profitability and D+ Growth. The average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating disagrees and has a Buy rating, wherein 3 out of 9 analysts tag the stock as Strong Buy.

AeroVironment (AVAV) +7.19%. The Arlington, Va.-based drone maker’s announced on Tuesday a successful multi-drop, live fire GPS-guided Shryke munitions from the VAPOR 55 MX unmanned aircraft System in collaboration with Corvid and L3Harris Technologies.

The chart below shows 6-month price-return performance of the top five gainers and SPY:

The SA Quant Rating on AVAV is Buy with score of A for Momentum and C- for Valuation. The average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating is Strong Buy rating, wherein 3 out of 5 analysts see the stock as such.

Vertiv (VRT) +6.93%. Shares of the company — which provides products and services for data centers and communication networks — rose the most on Monday (+4.82%). The SA Quant Rating on VRT is Hold with score of A+ for Growth and F for Valuation. The average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating differs and has Strong Buy rating, wherein 8 out of 12 analysts view the stock as such.

BWX Technologies (BWXT) +6.53%. The Lynchburg, Va.-based nuclear components maker has a SA Quant Rating of Hold, while the average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating is Buy.

Exponent (EXPO) +6.36%. The engineering consulting company has a SA Quant Rating of Strong Sell, which is in contrast to the average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating of Buy.

This week’s top five decliners among industrial stocks (market cap of over $2B) all lost more than -7% each.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) -19.06%. The hydrogen fuel cell solutions maker’s stock fell the most on Thursday (-7.92%) after Susquehanna downgraded the shares to Neutral from Positive. The SA Quant Rating on PLUG is Strong Sell with a factor grade of F for Profitability and Momentum. The rating differs with average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating of Buy, wherein 10 out of 29 analysts view the stock as Strong Buy.

Wheels Up Experience (UP) -16.02%. Shares of the New York-based private aviation services provider tumbled the most on Monday (-13.79%).

The chart below shows 6-month price-return performance of the worst five decliners and XLI:

Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) -14.28% and Boeing (BA) -12.57%. Spirit and Boeing’s stock fell the most on Monday, -11.13% and -8.03%, respectively, following a Jan. 5 Alaska Air incident. The FAA temporarily grounded some Boeing (BA) 737 MAX 9 planes after a plug on one of the Alaska Airlines (ALK) plane’s unused emergency exit doors blew out a few minutes after takeoff, triggering a rapid depressurization. Spirit makes and installs the door plugs in question. Spirit noted that it is supporting a probe into the mishap.

The SA Quant Rating on SPR is Hold with factor grade of D for Profitability and C+ for Growth. The rating differs with the average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating of Buy rating, wherein 7 out of 20 analysts see the stock as Strong Buy. Boeing (BA) has a SA Quant Rating of Hold, while the average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating is Buy.

Bloom Energy (BE) -7.55%. The stock dipped the most on Tuesday -4.10% and tried to recover on Wednesday after Baird upgraded the shares to Outperform from Market Perform. The SA Quant Rating on Bloom is Hold, which differs from the average Wall Street Analysts’ Rating of Buy.