What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the morning session after a surprisingly weak U.S. jobs report was released, fueling concerns about a slowing economy. 

The U.S. economy added only 73,000 jobs, falling significantly short of economists' expectations, while figures for May and June were revised down, erasing 258,000 previously reported jobs. The professional and business services industry itself shed 14,000 jobs. This data points to a cooling labor market, fueling concerns of a slowing economy. A weaker economic outlook often leads to reduced corporate spending on key services like IT consulting and professional staffing, which directly impacts the sector's revenue and growth prospects. The report immediately increased investor expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

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:

• IT Distribution & Solutions company CDW (NASDAQ: CDW) fell 3.2%. Is now the time to buy CDW? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Business Process Outsourcing & Consulting company CRA (NASDAQ: CRAI) fell 3.3%. Is now the time to buy CRA? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Specialized Technology company Crane NXT (NYSE: CXT) fell 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Crane NXT? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Hardware & Infrastructure company Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE: DBD) fell 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Diebold Nixdorf? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Business Process Outsourcing & Consulting company Exponent (NASDAQ: EXPO) fell 4%. Is now the time to buy Exponent? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Exponent (EXPO)

Exponent’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 3 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.

Exponent is down 22% since the beginning of the year, and at $68.62 per share, it is trading 40.5% below its 52-week high of $115.28 from September 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Exponent’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $822.88.

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