US stocks had a mixed opening on Friday, with investors being pulled one way by a dive in consumer sentiment and the other by Russian President Vladimir Putin's talk of progress in negotiations for peace in Ukraine.
Oil prices are higher, while gold and Bitcoin are both in the red.
Here are Friday's trending stocks:
DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU)
Online signature specialists DocuSign has seen its shares dive by more than 20% despite reporting fourth quarter earnings and revenue were ahead of expectations.
Investors appear to be concerned about the company’s outlook, with guidance for full-year revenue to be between $2.47bn to $2.48bn falling short of projections listed on FactSet.
The company has previously cautioned that the return to offices from working at home would challenge the pace of its growth. It seems that the lower than anticipated guidance has spooked investors who were fearing just that.
The company’s share price has now fallen by more than 70% over the last six months, with the end of the pandemic clearly hitting it hard.
Guardforce AI (NASDAQ: GFAI)
This company’s share price has soared by more than 100% in early trading on Friday following its announcement that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Shenzhen Keweien Robot Service Co and Guangzhou Kewei Robot Technology Co for $10m.
The Chinese duo are focused on the hospitality, healthcare, property management, and government sectors, and derive revenues from AI robotic services which automate repetitive tasks.
GFAI said the newly acquired businesses are expected to play a key role in the growth of its robotics as a service (RaaS) business initiative.
Yum China (NYSE: YUMC)
Yum China’s shares are down on Friday morning after it ran into trouble with US regulators which could see the stock kicked off American exchanges.
The Securities and Exchange Commission identified five US-listed Chinese firms which have failed to adhere to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. The regulation requires US regulators to be able to view company audits from foreign business listed on American exchanges via ADRs.
When found to be in breach of this regulation, companies can be banned from trading or delisted by the SEC. The other firms identified by the SEC are BeiGene (NASDAQ: BGNE), Zai Lab (NASDAQ: ZLAB), ACM Research (NASDAQ: ACMR) and HUTCHMED (NASDAQ: HCM). Each of these has seen their share price fall significantly in Friday morning trading.
Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV)
Xpeng which has made a name for itself as the Chinese Tesla, has seen its share price stumble despite the company opening orders for its first car in the European market.
This appears to be due to fears of increased regulatory scrutiny against Chinese companies listed on US exchanges, sparked by the previously mentioned findings of the SEC.
Other Chinese companies impacted by this selloff of Chinese stocks include Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Nio (NYSE: NIO) and Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), which have all seen their share price decline.
DiDi Global (NYSE: DIDI)
In further news from the Far East, Beijing-based ride hailing company DiDi Global has seen its share price dive by almost 40% as reports suggest the firm will seek to delay an IPO in Hong Kong.
Bloomberg reported that the company has been warned by Chinese regulators that its proposals to prevent security and data leaks are insufficient, leaving the company little choice but to back out of the proposed listing.
The company seemed to invoke the ire of Chinese regulators back in June, when it pushed ahead with its listing in New York despite cautions against it. Investors appear concerned that this latest run in with Chinese regulators could be damaging for the firm.
