What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after markets continued to rally as investor optimism grew for a potential Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September. This optimism was largely fueled by a recent consumer price index report that showed inflation easing, along with public comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advocating for a significant 50-basis-point rate cut. The prospect of lower borrowing costs tends to boost rate-sensitive sectors like Business Services, as it can encourage companies to increase spending on consulting, IT projects, and staffing.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Industrial & Environmental Services company Vestis (NYSE: VSTS) jumped 6.6%. Is now the time to buy Vestis? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Office & Commercial Furniture company MillerKnoll (NASDAQ: MLKN) jumped 3.8%. Is now the time to buy MillerKnoll? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Terrestrial Telecommunication Services company Cogent (NASDAQ: CCOI) jumped 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Cogent? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Specialized Technology company Cognex (NASDAQ: CGNX) jumped 4.4%. Is now the time to buy Cognex? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Business Process Outsourcing & Consulting company Concentrix (NASDAQ: CNXC) jumped 5%. Is now the time to buy Concentrix? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Vestis (VSTS)
Vestis’s shares are very volatile and have had 25 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 7 days ago when the stock dropped 7.4% on the news that the company reported disappointing third-quarter fiscal 2025 results that missed analyst expectations on both profit and revenue. The uniform and workplace supplies provider posted a net loss of one cent per share, reversing a profit from the same quarter last year and missing analyst estimates. Revenue fell 3.5% to $673.8 million, as customer losses outpaced new business wins. The financial pressure extended to profitability and cash flow, as gross profit dropped by 10.1% and free cash flow decreased significantly. These operational struggles also impacted the company's financial health, with its net leverage ratio increasing.
Vestis is down 69.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $4.67 per share, it is trading 71.9% below its 52-week high of $16.62 from December 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Vestis’s shares at the IPO in September 2023 would now be looking at an investment worth $242.60.
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