CE 100 Index Slips 2.7%, Led by Xerox, as All Pillars Lose Ground

Through the past several weeks, the CE 100 Index has shown resilience, outperforming the broader markets, and posted several weeks where all segments were higher.  

But what goes up, as they say, must come down — and in the past week, all pillars within the CE 100 list were lower.  Yet, as seen in the chart below, the year-to-date and trailing 12-month performance still outpaced other benchmarks.

 Xerox shares led to the downside, slipping 18.8% and helping to spur the Work segment to a 4.5% loss.

The company said last week that it cut its dividend ahead of the Lexmark acquisition by 80%.  Xerox had said at the end of last year that it would reduce the dividend, and in the announcement this month, the company noted that the move reflects “the prioritization of debt repayment following acquisition close. Since then, yields on Xerox publicly traded debt have risen, resulting in an increased cost of capital and placing greater value on the reduction of debt. Further, an acceleration in the expected timing of the Lexmark transaction close and ongoing tariff and trade-related volatility have put a premium on flexibility.”

As a group, Pay and Be Paid names were 1% lower.

Affirm’s shares lost 6.2%.

As noted by PYMNTS, Affirm continues to deepen its travel industry footprint by expanding its partnership with Kayak.  The firms have collaborated in the U.S. since 2023 and are now bringing their joint efforts to Canada. By choosing Affirm at checkout on Kayak’s Canadian website, approved travelers can split the cost of flights, accommodations, and car rentals or car sharing into monthly payments, according to the announcement.

Kayak Chief Product Officer Matthias Keller told PYMNTS in a separate interview about the company’s launch of Kayak.ai, a conversational travel booking assistant powered by generative artificial intelligence.

“This is not just a chatbot,” Keller said. “It’s a ChatGPT just built for travel. You can ask any travel question, and in a conversation, you get real-life rates that are also bookable on Kayak.”

The payments networks were also lower throughout the week.

Mastercard and Visa shares were both down 3.3%. The shares moved on news that the European Commission is looking into fees charged by Visa and Mastercard in a move that could lead to a formal probe.  The competition regulator sent requests for information to market participants last week, asking about fees they impose on financial institutions that provide services to retailers using the Visa and Mastercard networks.

Elsewhere, Block said Tuesday that since the launch of its credit products, it has extended over $100 billion in credit while keeping its loss rates “low.”  The company uses a combination of near real-time data, technology and customer-first design, rather than traditional credit scores.  The shares were 1.9% higher.

Within the Move segment, which was off 5.2%, Airbnb shares sank 8.2%.  FedEx shares were 5.6% lower. And in the Enablers cohort, where the pillar sank 2%, Apple shares lost 7.6% on the specter of increased tariffs.

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