On Wall Street: Robert Pattinson at NYSE, Groupon hits new low

Wall Street wasn’t lacking for suffering Tuesday, between heartbroken actor Robert Pattinson and Groupon Inc.’s tanking price.

Pattinson dutifully showed up in the morning to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange with David Cronenberg, the director of his newest film, “Cosmopolis.” The official description of the movie – about a young billionaire asset manager – could describe Pattinson’s life of late: “a single cataclysmic day,” “dizzyingly hellish” a world “about to implode.”

But by all accounts at the NYSE, the "Twilight" series heartthrob didn’t make a peep about the scandalous revelations last month that his girlfriend Kristen Stewart had cheated on him with a married director.

Clad in a sober gray suit and blue tie, the Brit crossed his arms, swayed awkwardly, swept his hand through his oft-discussed hair and generally avoided any kind of controversial behavior.

The same can’t be said about Groupon, the daily deals business known for big talk but also big slides in the market.

Investors reacted strongly to the Chicago company’s earnings, which were released after trading closed Monday. On Tuesday, Groupon stock lost nearly a quarter of its market value, falling as much as 24.3% to $5.71 a share.

The Chicago company, which trades on Nasdaq, reported net income of $28.4 million, or 4 cents a share, in the second quarter ended June 30. The profit, coming after a $107.4 million loss in the year-earlier quarter, beat analysts' expectations.

But global sales – especially in Europe – slowed drastically, growing 31% to $308.1 million after more than doubling in the first quarter. Overall, revenue increased 45% to $568.3 million.

Luckily, Pattinson was around to keep Wall Street looking good.