Riot Platforms stock surged, Progressive retreated: weekly financials roundup (NYSE:GBCI)
TERADAT SANTIVIVUT
The financial stock that gained the most this week benefitted from a robust rally in cryptocurrencies, while the one that slid the most reflected disappointing first-quarter results.
Overall, financial stocks rose markedly for the week ended April 14. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLF) climbed 2.9%, as investors cheered the handful of megabanks that kicked off Q1 earnings season, and stresses in the banking system continued to ease. By comparison, the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) edged up 0.8%.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) miner Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) topped the best-performing financial stocks (with a market cap over $2B), soaring 47.2%, as the crypto turned in a strong weekly gain;
Brazil-based financial services company XP Inc. (NASDAQ:XP) jumped 28.1%;
Argentina’s Banco Macro S.A. (NYSE:BMA) drove up 16.7%;
Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL), another Argentinean bank, advanced 16.4%; and
Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW), a life and health insurer, perked up 13.9%.
For the five biggest losers, Progressive (NYSE:PGR) fell the most, down 7.8%, after the P&C insurer’s Q1 earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations on a higher combined ratio;
Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) retreated 7.1%;
Kemper Corp. (NYSE:KMPR), another P&C insurer, dipped 6.8%;
First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) dropped 6.5% after the regional lender suspended payment of its quarterly cash dividend on seven series of its preferred shares; and
Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) slipped 6.4%.
Seeking Alpha contributor IncomeBent Investments views RIOT with a Hold rating as the miner has been able to “maintain somewhat stable” bitcoin production despite grappling with a number of challenges.
