Engineering Company Fluor Leads S&P 500 Decliners With 5% Loss After Earnings Miss

Shares of engineering and tech company Fluor Corp. fell 5% Friday to lead S&P 500 decliners, after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the first quarter. The company said per-share earnings came to 43 cents, well below the 67 cents consensus, as revenue declined and it suffered a cost overrun in its industrial, infrastructure and power group. Macquarie analysts said new orders of $2.3 billion were well below the four-quarter average of $5.2 billion and back of of $41.6 billion, which was down 10% from the year-earlier period. "We think continued execution issues should put pressure on the valuation," they wrote in a note. "Management indicted they remain confident on their exposure to Kuwait and indicated their projects are on budget, unlike the charges taken by some of the international peers." Macquarie lowered its price target to $44 from $54. It rates the stock neutral. Shares are down 9% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained about 7%.