What Happened?
Shares of safety equipment manufacturer MSA Safety (NYSE: MSA) jumped 3.4% in the morning session after the company posted strong second-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street's revenue and profit expectations. The safety equipment manufacturer reported net sales of $474.1 million, a 3% increase year-over-year. Adjusted earnings per share landed at $1.93, which also beat analyst forecasts. The company's sales growth stemmed from its Detection segment, bolstered by the recent acquisition of M&C TechGroup. This purchase strengthened MSA's position in the gas and flame detection market. In a move that pleased investors, the company also repurchased $30 million of its stock and raised its dividend for the 55th consecutive year.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $180.99, up 2% from previous close.
Is now the time to buy MSA Safety? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
MSA Safety’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 2 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
MSA Safety is up 9.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $180.99 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $184.68 from September 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of MSA Safety’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,496.
Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we’ve identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link.
