NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of IAC/InterActiveCorp are dropping Wednesday amid investor confusion over the company's 2013 guidance following a mistake by a financial information provider.
IAC's third-quarter results, released before the market opened, beat Wall Street's expectations. The stock later plunged 15.7 percent based on what appeared to be a misinterpretation of its guidance for 2013 by FactSet Research. IAC forecast an operating loss for its media segment, but FactSet took it as an outlook for the entire company.
FactSet says it recognized the error and promptly issued a correction. In the confusion, the Nasdaq briefly halted trading in IAC stock.
Even with the mistake cleared up, IAC's stock is still down nearly 7 percent. Benchmark analyst James Dobson says IAC's guidance was "soft" but notes that IAC traditionally provides a conservative outlook.
