What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after a significant downward revision of U.S. job creation data raised concerns about the health of the economy.
The Labor Department reported that employers added 911,000 fewer jobs from April 2024 through March 2025 than initially estimated. This revision brings the average monthly job gains during that period down significantly, suggesting a cooler labor market. The downgrades were widespread across various service sectors. The largest revisions were seen in leisure and hospitality, which added 176,000 fewer jobs than first reported, followed by professional and business services and retail.
Such data is closely watched by investors and economists as it can influence the Federal Reserve's decisions on interest rates.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned 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:
- Leisure Facilities company Dave & Buster's (NASDAQ:PLAY) fell 3.6%. Is now the time to buy Dave & Buster's? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Footwear company Genesco (NYSE:GCO) fell 3.6%. Is now the time to buy Genesco? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Home Furnishings company Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) fell 3.5%. Is now the time to buy Leggett & Platt? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Specialized Consumer Services company Matthews (NASDAQ:MATW) fell 3.4%. Is now the time to buy Matthews? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Home Furnishings company Mohawk Industries (NYSE:MHK) fell 3%. Is now the time to buy Mohawk Industries? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Dave & Buster's (PLAY)
Dave & Buster’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 47 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 4 days ago when the stock dropped 2.6% on the news that investors reacted to broader market concerns about the health of the U.S. job market. The stock's decline was not linked to any company-specific news but rather a wider market sell-off. Across Wall Street, investors are questioning whether the U.S. job market has slowed down by an appropriate amount or perhaps too much. This uncertainty is creating a risk-off sentiment, leading to a decline in major indices and impacting individual stocks like Dave & Buster's, which are often sensitive to consumer spending and economic outlook.
Dave & Buster's is down 26% since the beginning of the year, and at $22.43 per share, it is trading 46.6% below its 52-week high of $42.02 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Dave & Buster’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,216.
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