What Happened?
Shares of auto services provider Monro (NASDAQ: MNRO) jumped 15.1% in the morning session after a report revealed that activist investor Carl Icahn acquired a significant stake in the company. The Icahn Group reported it purchased 639,473 shares at a price of $15.19 each, for a total of about $9.7 million. Following the transaction, Icahn's total disclosed ownership reached 4.4 million shares, which represented nearly a 15% stake in the automotive service and tire company. The involvement of a well-known activist investor often signaled to the market that strategic changes could be on the horizon. This news came after a period where Monro's performance had been challenged, as its previous quarter was marked by results that missed revenue expectations due to store closures and softer consumer demand.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Monro’s shares are very volatile and have had 25 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Monro and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 5 days ago when the stock dropped 5.5% on the news that the stock's slide continued as it reported a 4.1% drop in quarterly sales and received a lower price target from a Wells Fargo analyst. The automotive service company's revenue fell to $288.9 million, missing analysts' expectations. This decline was mainly driven by the closure of 145 underperforming stores. Monro also pointed to recent softness in consumer demand, which was reflected in preliminary October comparable store sales that were down 2%.
Monro is down 26.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $18.11 per share, it is trading 39.2% below its 52-week high of $29.78 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Monro’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $435.86.
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