What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after markets pulled back, reversing early gains, as investor sentiment remained cautious despite a softer-than-expected inflation reading.
Stocks rose in the morning session after an unexpected drop in the Producer Price Index (PPI) for August signaled easing inflation and raised expectations for a potential Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the PPI, which measures wholesale prices, edged down 0.1% last month, contrary to analyst expectations for a 0.3% rise. This data gives the Federal Reserve more flexibility to consider lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy.
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 Accenture (NYSE: ACN) fell 3.8%. Is now the time to buy Accenture? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Specialized Technology company Arlo Technologies (NYSE: ARLO) fell 4%. Is now the time to buy Arlo Technologies? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Specialized Technology company Mirion (NYSE: MIR) fell 4.2%. Is now the time to buy Mirion? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Industrial & Environmental Services company Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) fell 3.8%. Is now the time to buy Pitney Bowes? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Data & Business Process Services company EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) fell 3.1%. Is now the time to buy EXL? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Mirion (MIR)
Mirion’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 14 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 1 day ago when the stock dropped 3.4% on the news that the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the economy added significantly fewer jobs than previously reported over the last year.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued a preliminary benchmark revision indicating that nonfarm employment was overstated by 911,000 jobs for the 12 months ending in March 2025. This routine but significant adjustment suggests the labor market has been considerably weaker than initial monthly reports suggested. Such a large downward revision can be a key indicator of a cooling economy. For investors, this news is mixed; while a slowdown could prompt the Federal Reserve to consider interest rate cuts, it also heightens concerns about a potential recession. The report noted that the professional and business services and manufacturing sectors saw notable downward revisions, signaling specific areas of weakness.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon added that the U.S. economy is "weakening," though he stopped short of predicting a recession. "Whether it's on the way to recession or just weakening, I don't know," he said. Dimon's remarks are closely watched, given his influence as head of one of the nation's largest banks.
Mirion is up 24.1% since the beginning of the year, and at $21 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $22.90 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Mirion’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,035.
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