Late Bounce in CE100’s Battered Food and Car Sectors Offers Hope

For the CE100™ — given just how volatile the week was — well, it could have been a lot worse.

That’s a sentiment we could extend to the stock market as a whole, of course.

Friday’s rally helped the CE100™ cut its losses, and the week saw the group slip by 1.1%, better than the 2.4% drops seen in both the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

CE100™ Relative Performance

Source: PYMNTS

The rebound was led by the “Eat” index, which gained 2.4%, and the “Live” pillar, which was up 2.1%, tempered in part by the 4.8% slide in the “Move” sector.

Earnings Still in Focus

No surprise: Earnings continue to hold sway, and commentary about what lies in store with the macro headwinds in place continues.

Our firms rooted in the “Eat” sector operate within the great digital shift of delivery and platforms — and restaurant-focused payments tech, too. In recent days, DoorDash reported earnings that topped estimates. More recently, B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) restaurant technology company Olo reported that revenue was up 18% year over year and its ending active location count increased 19%. Those results sent shares up 13% on the week.

See also: Aggregators’ Growth Shows Delivery Habits Buck the Great Reopening

It seems, then, that digital efforts to speed up everything — including ordering, pickup, delivery and payment — is a trend that has legs even amid the continued reopening of economies.

Within the “Live” pillar, Porch shares soared more than 24% on the week, as the firm’s own most recent earnings materials showed 40% growth in the vertical software segment, and the insurance unit logged 130% revenue growth.

Vroom, a standout in the “Shop” industry, soared 18.5% through the past several days. The company said it sold 19,473 cars in Q1, up 26% compared to the same period last year, and generated $675.4 million in eCommerce revenue, up 60% compared to the previous year. The company also named Thomas Shortt as its new CEO.

The rally in the company’s shares came as the company detailed tweaks to its business model. Management also said on the earnings call that it has been broadening its offerings, having completed its acquisition of United Auto Credit Corporation, which brings increased lending activity (and its economics, through the financing company) to the platform.

That addition also lets Vroom compete more fully with Carvana and CarMax, with new cross-selling activities. Shortt said on the call that the credit arm is already originating loans for Vroom customers, and that its eCommerce last-mile hub delivery in the first quarter was at 76%.

“As part of our realignment plan, we intend to live within our means while accelerating our path to profitability and dramatically improving our customer experience,” he said. “We intend to prioritize unit economics over growth.”

Read more: Auto eTailer Vroom Names New CEO As eCommerce Sales Spike

At best, these company-by-company gains could only partially offset the declines in the “Move” pillar, where the leg down was led by Tesla (off 11%) and Airbnb (down more than 10%) for the week. In the case of Tesla, that name has been buffeted about by Elon Musk’s continuing Twitter saga, though a rally on Friday on news the deal is on “hold” reversed some of the losses.

The CE100™ Index clawed its way back on Friday to recoup much of the week’s losses — but a new week dawns.