What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after a surprisingly weak August jobs report revealed the U.S. economy added far fewer jobs than anticipated.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that non-farm payrolls rose by just 22,000, significantly missing the 75,000 expected by economists. Compounding the concerns, the unemployment rate climbed to 4.3%, its highest level in nearly four years. The report also included downward revisions to previous months' data, with June now showing the first net job loss since 2020. While a cooling labor market could encourage the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, investors reacted negatively. The sharp slowdown in hiring sparked fears of a broader economic downturn, causing stocks to fall as the market weighed whether the Fed's potential actions would be enough to prevent a recession.
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:
- Electronic Components company nLIGHT (NASDAQ: LASR) fell 4%. Is now the time to buy nLIGHT? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Maintenance and Repair Distributors company W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW) fell 3.6%. Is now the time to buy W.W. Grainger? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Electrical Systems company Thermon (NYSE: THR) fell 3.8%. Is now the time to buy Thermon? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Engineered Components and Systems company NN (NASDAQ: NNBR) fell 2.7%. Is now the time to buy NN? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Waste Management company Clean Harbors (NYSE: CLH) fell 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Clean Harbors? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On nLIGHT (LASR)
nLIGHT’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 34 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 4.1% after announcements of new U.S. export restrictions on semiconductor technology to China. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced today it was closing a loophole that allowed some foreign companies to export semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China without a license. This regulatory tightening creates a new headwind for the industry.
nLIGHT is up 173% since the beginning of the year, and at $28.42 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $29.83 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of nLIGHT’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,375.
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