What Happened?
Shares of resource management provider Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) jumped 4.4% in the afternoon session after the company announced it agreed to acquire Urbint for approximately $325 million.
The acquisition was set to be funded from cash on hand, with the closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2025. This move followed a strong second quarter in which Itron delivered revenue of $607 million, achieved record margins, and generated free cash flow of $91 million. Although the company slightly trimmed its full-year revenue midpoint, it also raised its earnings per share outlook, signaling underlying financial health that supported the cash-funded purchase.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $127.72, up 4.5% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Itron’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 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.
The previous big move we wrote about was 25 days ago when the stock gained 3.2% on the news that investors scooped up equities, shaking off the initial concerns inferred from the Fed's dot plot, with tech stocks leading the charge.
As a reminder, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points the previous day and signaled that more reductions could come before year-end and beyond. Initially when the cut was announced and Fed Chair Powell held his press conference, there was a pullback in the market as the Fed's "dot plot" revealed that only one cut was likely for 2026. This was below the three cuts that had been priced into the markets. This was the first interest rate cut of 2025, a move investors had widely anticipated. In response to the decision, stocks rose significantly, positioning major indexes like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to open at record levels.
The Fed's decision was influenced by signs of a weakening labor market. Lower interest rates are generally seen as positive for stocks because they reduce borrowing costs for businesses and make fixed-income investments like bonds less attractive by comparison, driving capital into the equity market. While Fed Chair Powell noted the path forward has risks, the prospect of looser monetary policy has fueled optimism on Wall Street.
Itron is up 17.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $127.72 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $138.42 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Itron’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,857.
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