What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after renewed enthusiasm for Alphabet reinvigorated the artificial intelligence trade, propelling a market rebound heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. The Nasdaq index jumped 2.6% and the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, driven by a 5% rally in Alphabet following the announcement of its upgraded Gemini 3 AI model. This optimism spilled over into the broader tech sector, lifting shares of Broadcom, Micron, and Palantir significantly. The rally built on momentum from the previous trading session, sparked by the New York Fed president keeping the door open for a December interest rate cut.
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:
- Data Analytics company Health Catalyst (NASDAQ: HCAT) jumped 8.3%. Is now the time to buy Health Catalyst? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Design Software company Unity (NYSE: U) jumped 7%. Is now the time to buy Unity? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On Health Catalyst (HCAT)
Health Catalyst’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 46 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 3 days ago when the stock gained 15.8% on the news that comments from a key Federal Reserve official bolstered hopes for an interest rate cut. The positive sentiment followed comments from New York Federal Reserve President John Williams, a voting member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), who indicated he sees room for further policy easing. Following his remarks, the probability of a December rate cut surged from 39% to 71%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, causing Treasury yields to fall. Lower interest rates can be particularly beneficial for growth-oriented sectors like software, as they increase the present value of future earnings. This renewed hope provided a boost to the sector, which had recently faced pressure from concerns over high valuations in artificial intelligence.
Health Catalyst is down 65.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $2.51 per share, it is trading 72.2% below its 52-week high of $9.02 from December 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Health Catalyst’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $70.60.
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