What Happened?
Shares of electricity storage and software provider Fluence (NASDAQ: FLNC) jumped 15.9% in the afternoon session after UBS significantly increased its price target on the energy storage company's stock to $22 from $8. This move came even as the bank kept its "Neutral" rating. According to UBS, the large target increase reflected Fluence's high growth rate compared to its peers and better visibility into improving gross margins, which are a measure of profitability. The positive analyst action followed a similar update from the previous day, when Citigroup also maintained a "Neutral" rating but boosted its price target on the stock to $20 from $7.50.
The shares closed the day at $23.26, up 17.2% from previous close.
Is now the time to buy Fluence Energy? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Fluence Energy’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 88 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 14 days ago when the stock dropped 6.2% on the news that markets faded the Nvidia rally in the morning session, as investors remained uncertain about future rate cuts. While the trading day began with significant enthusiasm, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 700 points and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.6%, momentum quickly evaporated as the session wore on. The primary catalyst for this sharp reversal was a stronger-than-expected jobs report, which reduced the implied odds of a December interest rate cut to less than 40%. This macroeconomic anxiety overshadowed stellar corporate performance. Nvidia initially surged 5% on blockbuster earnings and CEO Jensen Huang's bullish outlook on "off the charts" demand for Blackwell chips. However, the stock eventually turned negative, acting as a heavy weight that dragged the broader indices into the red. The sell-off partly reflects a deepening caution regarding high-flying tech valuations in a "higher-for-longer" rate environment. Consequently, investors appeared to rotate capital away from volatile growth sectors and toward defensive staples, evidenced by Walmart's 6% gain following its own earnings beat. Ultimately, the market could not sustain the morning's euphoria, as traders prioritized rate realities over AI potential.
Fluence Energy is up 36.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $23.10 per share, has set a new 52-week high. 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 $660.
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