What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the major indices pulled back (Nasdaq -1.3%, S&P 500 -1.1%) as Israel carried out significant strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites. This development has sent crude oil prices surging, as investors fear potential disruptions to global oil supply and a wider regional conflict. 

The conflict intensified market anxiety, compounding volatility, especially in risk assets like stocks, and prompting a pronounced shift toward safe-haven assets.

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:

• Commercial Building Products company Janus (NYSE: JBI) fell 5.2%. Is now the time to buy Janus? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• General Industrial Machinery company Hillenbrand (NYSE: HI) fell 5.1%. Is now the time to buy Hillenbrand? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Home Construction Materials company JELD-WEN (NYSE: JELD) fell 5.5%. Is now the time to buy JELD-WEN? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Hardware & Infrastructure company Super Micro (NASDAQ: SMCI) fell 5%. Is now the time to buy Super Micro? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Professional Staffing & HR Solutions company ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) fell 5.8%. Is now the time to buy ManpowerGroup? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On ManpowerGroup (MAN)

ManpowerGroup’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 11 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 biggest move we wrote about over the last year was about 2 months ago when the stock dropped 15.9% on the news that the company reported underwhelming first quarter 2025 results: Its EBITDA and EPS missed Wall Street's expectations. 

On a brighter note, revenue came in ahead of expectations. However, this modest beat was not enough to offset the significant drop in earnings, as profits were pulled down by higher restructuring costs and tax charges. 

Looking ahead, EPS guidance for next quarter missed significantly, indicating continued margin pressure and limited visibility on near-term recovery, particularly in Europe. Overall, this was a weaker quarter.

ManpowerGroup is down 29.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $40.32 per share, it is trading 47.7% below its 52-week high of $77.13 from July 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of ManpowerGroup’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $576.06.

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