Last Week's Biggest Movers on Wall Street

Plenty of stocks go up and down in any given week. The gainers inspire us to keep investing. The decliners keep greed in check while reminding us about the risks of the equity markets.

Let's go over some of last week's best and worst performers.

Avon Products (AVP) -- Up 27 percent last week

Shares of the iconic direct seller of beauty and home products moved higher after a bullish analyst note. Citi (C) issued an upbeat take on Avon, slapping a price target on the stock that suggested 44 percent in upside.

Citi visited Avon's operations in Brazil, the country that has become the direct seller's biggest market over the years. There are challenges there, but Citi observed underlying strength in a country where it has 1.5 million reps selling its products.

Movado (MOV) -- Up 18 percent last week

The clock is ticking at Movado. The maker of watches moved higher after posting mixed quarterly results. Its profit of 92 cents a share on $185.6 million in revenue fell just short of Wall Street expectations, but its guidance -- calling for per-share earnings to clock in between $2 and $2.10 on $590 million to $600 million in revenue -- finds it landing just ahead of where the pros are perched.

We may not be wearing traditional watches the way we used to, but Movado's encouraging guidance suggests that it will be a better-than-expected holiday shopping season for its timepieces.

TrueCar (TRUE) -- Up 15 percent last week

%VIRTUAL-WSSCourseInline-1023%A change at the top apparently looks good for TrueCar. The online marketplace -- where customers are offered haggle-free prices on cars available locally -- moved higher after announcing that Chip Perry will take over as CEO in two weeks. Perry was formerly the CEO at Auto Trader. TrueCar's founder and CEO Scott Painter had announced that he would be stepping down back in August and the market clearly like the move to tap a seasoned outsider to take the wheel.

Abengoa (ABGB) -- Down 64 percent last week

Last week's biggest loser was Spain's Abengoa, shedding nearly a third of its value after initiating insolvency proceedings. The renewables giant thought it had found a savior earlier in the week, but that investor decided Wednesday not to inject new capital into Abengoa. The insolvency proceedings began the following day.

Daktronics (DAKT) -- Down 17 percent last week

It was another losing quarter for the scoreboard maker. Daktronics fell short of analyst profit targets, but that's not really a surprise. It has fallen short on the bottom line every single quarter for more than a year. Net sales also clocked in 9 percent lower than a year earlier.

Pure Storage (PSTG) -- Down 12 percent last week

A bad earnings report will trip up a stock, but sometimes it's also enough to slam a competitor. Enterprise data flash storage specialist Pure Storage took a hit after rival Nimble Storage (NMBL) served up unflattering financials. The fear here is that the entire sector is in a funk. We'll know for sure if the selloff was warranted, as Pure Storage reports quarterly results for the same period on Thursday.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Movado Group and TrueCar. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. Check out our free report on one great stock to buy for 2015 and beyond.