What Happened?
Shares of crane and lifting equipment company Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW) jumped 4.9% in the afternoon session after broader positive sentiment in the construction equipment sector improved, driven by news of a potential major acquisition and a strong market forecast. The positive mood was largely fueled by reports that Doosan Bobcat, a global construction machinery maker, sought to acquire German manufacturer Wacker Neuson. The potential deal, valued at $2.3 billion, was seen as a move by Doosan to establish Europe as a significant growth area. Such large-scale acquisition interest often highlights underlying value and boosts investor confidence across an entire industry. Further supporting the upbeat outlook, a report from Allied Market Research projected the North American construction equipment market would grow from $51.6 billion in 2021 to $79.7 billion by 2031. This positive industry-wide news appeared to lift stocks like Manitowoc.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $11.86, up 4.7% from previous close.
Is now the time to buy Manitowoc? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Manitowoc’s shares are very volatile and have had 25 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 19 days ago when the stock dropped 3.5% on the news that Wells Fargo initiated coverage on the company with an 'Underweight' rating and a $9.00 price target. An 'Underweight' rating generally suggested that the analyst believed the stock would likely perform worse than the average return of other stocks the analyst covered. This analyst action followed an announcement that European industry members had filed a complaint with the European Commission. The complaint cited an influx of mobile cranes from China into the European Union, calling for an investigation into conditions they described as unfair competition for European producers.
Manitowoc is up 33.3% since the beginning of the year, but at $11.86 per share, it is still trading 11.4% below its 52-week high of $13.39 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Manitowoc’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,041.
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