What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after concerns about the health of the U.S. economy grew following a significant downward revision of job market data.
The Labor Department reported that employers added 911,000 fewer jobs from April 2024 through March than initially estimated. These "benchmark revisions" are issued annually to more accurately account for new and defunct businesses. The report detailed that the leisure and hospitality sector added 176,000 fewer jobs, professional and business services 158,000 fewer, and retailers 126,000 fewer. This weaker-than-expected data has fueled investor anxiety, as it suggests businesses may be becoming more reluctant to hire amid economic uncertainty. The numbers issued are preliminary, with final revisions scheduled for February 2026.
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.
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:
- Renewable Energy company Array (NASDAQ:ARRY) fell 4.9%. Is now the time to buy Array? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Home Construction Materials company Quanex (NYSE:NX) fell 4.8%. Is now the time to buy Quanex? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Agricultural Machinery company Titan International (NYSE:TWI) fell 5.3%. Is now the time to buy Titan International? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Home Construction Materials company American Woodmark (NASDAQ:AMWD) fell 4.3%. Is now the time to buy American Woodmark? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Waste Management company Perma-Fix (NASDAQ:PESI) fell 26.5%. Is now the time to buy Perma-Fix? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Perma-Fix (PESI)
Perma-Fix’s shares are very volatile and have had 29 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Perma-Fix and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 21 days ago when the stock dropped 3.4% on the news that investors took some profits off the table as markets awaited signals on future monetary policy from the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium later in the week. The downturn in the market was largely attributed to a significant sell-off in megacap tech and chipmaker shares. Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom all saw notable drops, dragging down the VanEck Semiconductor ETF. Other major tech-related companies like Tesla, Meta Platforms, and Netflix were also under pressure. A key reason for this trend is that much of the recent market gains have been concentrated in the "AI trade," which includes these large technology and semiconductor companies. So this could also mean that some investors are locking in some gains ahead of more definitive feedback from the Fed.
Perma-Fix is down 11.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $9.49 per share, it is trading 38.8% below its 52-week high of $15.50 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Perma-Fix’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,416.
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