What Happened?
Shares of workplace furnishings manufacturer HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI) fell 3.1% in the morning session after the company reported strong second-quarter results that surpassed analyst estimates and raised its full-year profit forecast. The workplace furnishings and building products manufacturer posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.11, which was a 41% increase and well ahead of the expected $0.86. Revenue grew 7% year-over-year to $667.1 million, also beating consensus estimates. HNI attributed the strong performance to volume growth across both of its business segments and synergy benefits realized from its acquisition of Kimball. Following the positive results, the company increased its outlook for 2025, noting that it expected double-digit earnings per share growth for the full year.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
HNI’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 4 months ago when the stock dropped 5.1% after it gave back some of the gains from the previous day as the White House clarified the tariffs on imports from China would add up to 145%, while the baseline 10% tariffs remained in place for all countries. This reminded markets that the global trade environment remained volatile, limiting the potential for sustained gains. Also, President Trump said he was willing to accept pain in the short term, and was aware his policies could cause a recession, but he remained more mindful of a more severe case of economic depression (higher unemployment and prolonged downturn). For investors, this suggested that the administration could prioritize long-term structural shifts over near-term economic stability, further increasing policy-driven risk in the markets.
HNI is up 3.9% since the beginning of the year, but at $51.37 per share, it is still trading 10.6% below its 52-week high of $57.49 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of HNI’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,693.
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