What Happened?

A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after comments from a key Federal Reserve official hinted at a potential interest rate cut in December. 

John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, signaled he was open to lowering the fed funds rate—the key interest rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans—to support the job market. Speaking at an event, Williams stated that he sees “room for a further adjustment” for interest rates, which immediately shifted market expectations. Following his remarks, the perceived likelihood of an interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's December meeting flipped from unlikely to more likely than not. The prospect of lower borrowing costs sent a wave of optimism through the markets, leading to a rally in major indices like the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq Composite.

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:

• Industrial & Environmental Services company Vestis (NYSE: VSTS) jumped 8.2%. Is now the time to buy Vestis? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Electronic Components & Manufacturing company Rogers (NYSE: ROG) jumped 6.7%. Is now the time to buy Rogers? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Digital Media & Content Platforms company Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD) jumped 7%. Is now the time to buy Ziff Davis? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• IT Services & Consulting company Gartner (NYSE: IT) jumped 6.4%. Is now the time to buy Gartner? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Digital Media & Content Platforms company WEBTOON (NASDAQ: WBTN) jumped 8.5%. Is now the time to buy WEBTOON? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Zooming In On WEBTOON (WBTN)

WEBTOON’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 8 days ago when the stock dropped 24.4% on the news that the company reported third-quarter results that missed revenue expectations and provided a weak forecast for the upcoming quarter. The company's revenue grew 8.7% year-over-year to $378 million, but this fell short of Wall Street's estimate of $382.2 million. While its GAAP loss of $0.09 per share was narrower than the anticipated $0.12 loss, other key metrics were weak. Adjusted EBITDA of $5.12 million missed expectations, and Monthly Active Users fell by 13.41 million from the previous year to 155 million. However, the outlook was the primary concern for investors. WEBTOON's fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $335 million at the midpoint was substantially below the consensus estimate of $397.8 million. The company also guided for an adjusted EBITDA loss of $4 million, adding to the negative sentiment.

WEBTOON is flat since the beginning of the year, and at $13.63 per share, it is trading 36.1% below its 52-week high of $21.31 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of WEBTOON’s shares at the IPO in June 2024 would now be looking at an investment worth $592.39.

While Wall Street chases Nvidia at all-time highs, an under-the-radar semiconductor supplier is dominating a critical AI component these giants can’t build without. Click here to access our full research report.