Updated: March 9, 2020
Stock of largest Central Mass. public companies down 14%
Photo | Courtesy of Insulet
Insulet's headquarters in Acton
By Grant Welker
Coronavirus fears that have rocked the American stock market have not spared public companies based in Central Massachusetts.
The area's 10 largest public companies lost an average of 14% in share price through Monday since the market peaked Feb. 19. That tally is a slight improvement over the Dow Jones Industrial Average's loss of 18.7% and the S&P 500's drop of 18.9%, totals including major sell-offs Monday.
How much the losses can be pinned on the coronavirus outbreak isn't clear. The sharp downturn has coincided with a few of the area's largest companies filing earnings reports, including TJX Cos., Insulet, Waters Corp. and BJ's Wholesale Club.
Boston Scientific suffered the worst through the end of trading Monday, falling 20.8%.
[Related: Mass. coronavirus cases rise to 28]
Marlborough medical device company Boston Scientific said in an earnings report Feb. 5 it expected coronavirus to hit its sales by $10 million to $40 million. There could also be a disruption to its supply chain, the company said.
But that projected sales hit was when the worldwide death toll was only 492. The World Health Organization reported 3,100 deaths as of Sunday and 105,000 cases.
Insulet, an insulin pump maker based in Acton, fell 19.9%. The company has said a significant portion of its Omnipod Systems are made in China. Insulet reported its annual earnings Feb. 25 — only a few weeks ago, but potentially still too soon to gauge how much the outbreak has hurt business.
Oxford laser manufacturer IPG Photonics, which said in an earnings report Feb. 13 it expects roughly $45 million in reduced revenue from the outbreak, has seen its stock fall 18.8%. The sharp drop came after what Valentin Gapontsev, IPG's CEO, said in the earnings report were signs before the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday break in January that business in China was improving, based on orders picking up in December and January.
[Related: Coronavirus forces Assumption to suspend Rome operations]
Worcester-based Hanover Insurance Group, which doesn't report major business in Asia, saw its stock fall 19.4%.
There's one exception to the bleak news: BJ's Wholesale Club, whose stock has risen 6%. The Westborough retailer filed its annual earnings March 5, reporting adjusted net income of $203.4 million, or $1.46 per diluted share, for fiscal 2019, and a cost-cutting initiative put into place in the fourth quarter.
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