What Happened?

A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after comments from a key Federal Reserve official boosted hopes for an interest rate cut. New York Federal Reserve President John Williams stated he sees “room for a further adjustment” in the near term, sparking a significant market rally. Following his remarks, the probability of the central bank cutting rates at its December meeting jumped from 39% to over 73%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. This positive sentiment provided relief to markets amid concerns over high valuations, particularly in AI-related stocks.

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:

• Regional Banks company Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ: EFSC) jumped 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Enterprise Financial Services? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Regional Banks company Citizens Financial Group (NYSE: CFG) jumped 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Citizens Financial Group? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Regional Banks company Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ: AMAL) jumped 3.5%. Is now the time to buy Amalgamated Financial? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Regional Banks company Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ: WTFC) jumped 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Wintrust Financial? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Zooming In On Amalgamated Financial (AMAL)

Amalgamated Financial’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 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 28 days ago when the stock gained 3.8% on the news that the company reported strong third-quarter 2025 earnings that surpassed analyst expectations and raised its full-year guidance. 

The bank announced adjusted earnings of $0.91 per share on revenue of $85.61 million, beating forecasts of $0.88 per share and $83.33 million in revenue. The positive results were driven by significant growth on both sides of the balance sheet. Amalgamated Financial saw a large increase in deposits, generating over $415 million in new funds, and also experienced faster loan growth. Furthermore, the bank's net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, expanded. The company also improved its asset quality, with nonperforming assets declining, and raised its core earnings guidance for the full year, signaling confidence in its performance.

Amalgamated Financial is down 12.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $28.90 per share, it is trading 21.5% below its 52-week high of $36.82 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Amalgamated Financial’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,204.

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