What Happened?

A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after positive inflation data fueled hopes for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed inflation rose by a modest 0.2% in July and 2.7% over the last year. This cooler-than-expected data prompted a significant market rally, with the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq all climbing as investors grew more optimistic. The prevailing view is that easing inflation gives the central bank room to lower interest rates. Lower rates typically reduce borrowing costs for businesses and make stocks more attractive relative to bonds, contributing to widespread gains across sectors like healthcare.

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:

• Research Tools & Consumables company Revvity (NYSE: RVTY) jumped 3%. Is now the time to buy Revvity? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Research Tools & Consumables company Avantor (NYSE: AVTR) jumped 3.9%. Is now the time to buy Avantor? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Drug Development Inputs & Services company Azenta (NASDAQ: AZTA) jumped 4.1%. Is now the time to buy Azenta? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Research Tools & Consumables company Bio-Techne (NASDAQ: TECH) jumped 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Bio-Techne? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Generic Pharmaceuticals company Amneal (NASDAQ: AMRX) jumped 3%. Is now the time to buy Amneal? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Azenta (AZTA)

Azenta’s shares are very volatile and have had 26 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 5 days ago when the stock gained 3.3% after an upgrade from investment firm Raymond James, which lifted its rating to 'outperform' from 'market perform'. The investment firm set a new price target of $35.00, which indicated a potential upside of over 30% from the stock's previous price. This upgrade followed Azenta's fiscal third-quarter results. Raymond James described the report as "noisy," noting that while the company beat earnings per share forecasts, it missed on revenue. Despite the mixed results, the analysts suggested the stock had potentially reached a bottom, which prompted the more optimistic rating.

Azenta is down 41.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $29.15 per share, it is trading 46.8% below its 52-week high of $54.75 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Azenta’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $522.78.

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