What Happened?
Shares of vocational education Universal Technical Institute (NYSE: UTI) fell 6.6% in the afternoon session after a series of negative economic reports and an ongoing U.S. government shutdown soured investor sentiment, impacting stocks across the education sector.
The downturn followed a Survey of Consumer Expectations from the New York Fed, which revealed that households' short-term inflation expectations rose while their view of the labor market worsened. Consumers expressed greater concern about potential job losses and anticipated lower earnings growth.
Adding to the economic unease, Moody's Analytics' Chief Economist warned that 22 states showed clear signs of a recession. The U.S. government shutdown also dampened market sentiment, threatening to weigh on incomes and purchasing power. Other education services companies, including Adtalem and Perdoceo Education, also saw their shares fall amid the broad-based concerns.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Universal Technical Institute? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Universal Technical Institute’s shares are quite volatile and have had 18 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 11 days ago when the stock gained 3.4% on the news that the stock extended its positive momentum as Truist Securities reiterated its Buy rating and $40.00 price target on the stock. The firm's continued confidence followed a series of investor meetings with Universal Technical Institute's CEO Jerome Grant and CFO Bruce Schuman. This positive view was supported by the company's recent third-quarter 2025 earnings report, which surpassed analyst expectations. Universal Technical Institute posted earnings per share of $0.19, beating the forecast of $0.11, while revenue also came in higher at $204.3 million against projections.
Universal Technical Institute is up 18.2% since the beginning of the year, but at $30.06 per share, it is still trading 16.3% below its 52-week high of $35.90 from June 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Universal Technical Institute’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $5,432.
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