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:
- IT Services & Consulting company ASGN (NYSE: ASGN) jumped 3.1%. Is now the time to buy ASGN? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Industrial & Environmental Services company CECO Environmental (NASDAQ: CECO) jumped 3%. Is now the time to buy CECO Environmental? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On ASGN (ASGN)
ASGN’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 10 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 8.6% on the news that the company announced plans to rebrand as Everforth and authorized a new $1 billion share repurchase program. The information technology services provider revealed it would unify its six brands under the new parent identity. Alongside this change, ASGN's Board of Directors approved the share buyback, which the company described as the largest in its history. Share repurchase programs can be viewed positively by investors as they reduce the number of outstanding shares, potentially increasing the value of the remaining ones. These announcements were made during the company's 2025 Investor Day, where the executive team also presented its strategy and three-year financial targets.
ASGN is down 46.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $44.23 per share, it is trading 52.9% below its 52-week high of $93.96 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of ASGN’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $538.48.
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