What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the morning session after markets continued to decline, as investors grew cautious ahead of a key speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The move came as U.S. equity markets recorded a fifth consecutive day of losses for major indexes like the S&P 500, with technology stocks experiencing the largest declines. Investors have grown wary that the sharp rally in the tech sector since April may have advanced too far. The market-wide caution is largely driven by the upcoming Jackson Hole symposium, a meeting of central bankers, where traders are anxiously awaiting Fed Chair Powell's speech on Friday for guidance on the future path of interest rates.
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 Grid Dynamics (NASDAQ: GDYN) fell 3.1%. Is now the time to buy Grid Dynamics? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Professional Staffing & HR Solutions company Insperity (NYSE: NSP) fell 3%. Is now the time to buy Insperity? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Traditional Media & Publishing company EchoStar (NASDAQ: SATS) fell 3%. Is now the time to buy EchoStar? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Apparel and Accessories company Figs (NYSE: FIGS) fell 3.1%. Is now the time to buy Figs? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- General Industrial Machinery company Kadant (NYSE: KAI) fell 3%. Is now the time to buy Kadant? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Figs (FIGS)
Figs’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 33 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 9 days ago when the stock gained 4.7% on the news that the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed inflation holding steady, bolstering investor optimism for a potential interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The data, which revealed that inflation remained at 2.7% for the year ending in July, was seen as a positive sign by investors. This stability increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve might lower interest rates at its upcoming September meeting. Lower interest rates can stimulate the economy by making borrowing cheaper for both consumers and businesses, which often translates into higher consumer spending. This is particularly beneficial for the Consumer Discretionary sector, which includes companies selling non-essential goods and services like apparel, travel, and electronics.
Figs is up 18.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $6.99 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $7.14 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Figs’s shares at the IPO in May 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $232.68.
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