What Happened?
Shares of electricity storage and software provider Fluence (NASDAQ: FLNC) jumped 20.4% in the afternoon session after an analyst at Susquehanna significantly raised the price target on the company's shares. The firm maintained its 'Positive' rating on the stock while increasing the price target to $17.00 from a prior target of $9.00. The optimism was influenced by favorable policy developments, including the Inflation Reduction Act. Analysts also pointed to Fluence Energy's strong domestic manufacturing presence and robust backlogs as factors supporting a positive outlook in the alternative energy sector.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Fluence Energy’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 78 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Fluence Energy and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 3 days ago when the stock dropped 8.2% as the U.S. threatened to impose "massive increases" to tariffs on China in response to new export controls from Beijing. The potential countermeasures follow China's decision to place new restrictions on the export of strategic minerals and related products, including rare earths, which are critical for the defense, semiconductor, and manufacturing industries. This escalation in the economic competition between the two largest global economies is fueling investor anxiety. The new tariff threats raise concerns about disruptions to global supply chains, increased material costs for manufacturers, and a potential drag on an already sluggish economy. Industrial companies are particularly sensitive to these developments as they are often cyclical and heavily reliant on international trade.
Fluence Energy is down 7% since the beginning of the year, and at $15.73 per share, it is trading 33.1% below its 52-week high of $23.50 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Fluence Energy’s shares at the IPO in October 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $449.43.
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