Today's 3 Worst Stocks

Marking a third consecutive day of major swings, the S&P 500 Index slid 1.4% Wednesday, largely because of results from a singular, $1.1 billion company that triggered a sort of domino effect in the markets. However, today's three worst stocks all slipped far more than 1.4%, for various reasons.

Aerospace and defense company Textron was easily the most beleaguered in the 500 stock index, losing 13.4% of its value in trading today. An extremely bleak earnings report was to blame: it seems business jets just aren't as popular as they once were! Euphemistically, this is known as a "soft" market, in the words of Textron's CEO. A more than 550% increase from recent average trading volume shows that shareholders fled from the stock en masse.

Teradyne , a test equipment and semiconductor producer, slipped 6.1% as technology companies made for some of the worst performers of the day, declining 2.4% as a sector. The stock's woes today weren't much helped by the negative momentum it's had in the last month, when Teradyne saw more than 12% declines; the first-quarter earnings announcement is set for next Wednesday. Though Teradyne's slide shouldn't be overlooked, the most notable laggard of the day is yet to come.

Apple's stock not only stumbled 5.5%, but it dragged technology and much of the broader market down with it. All of this because a supplier of the megacompany, Cirrus Logic, reported underwhelming forecasts of its own. Though Cirrus has a market cap just over $1.1 billion, its forecasts can be considered a predictor of demand for Apple products, and its $150 million-$170 million revenue projections for the second quarter sent investors scampering for the exits; Wall Street had projected $190 million in sales for the quarter.

The article Today's 3 Worst Stocks originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor John Divine owns shares of Apple. You can follow him on Twitter, @divinebizkid, and on Motley Fool CAPS @TMFDivine.The Motley Fool recommends Apple and owns shares of Apple, Cirrus Logic, and Textron. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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