What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after markets faded the Nvidia rally in the morning session, as investors remained uncertain about future rate cuts.
While the trading day began with significant enthusiasm, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 700 points and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.6%, momentum quickly evaporated as the session wore on. The primary catalyst for this sharp reversal was a stronger-than-expected jobs report, which reduced the implied odds of a December interest rate cut to less than 40%. This macroeconomic anxiety overshadowed stellar corporate performance. Nvidia initially surged 5% on blockbuster earnings and CEO Jensen Huang's bullish outlook on "off the charts" demand for Blackwell chips. However, the stock eventually turned negative, acting as a heavy weight that dragged the broader indices into the red. The sell-off partly reflects a deepening caution regarding high-flying tech valuations in a "higher-for-longer" rate environment.
Consequently, investors appeared to rotate capital away from volatile growth sectors and toward defensive staples, evidenced by Walmart's 6% gain following its own earnings beat. Ultimately, the market could not sustain the morning's euphoria, as traders prioritized rate realities over AI potential.
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:
- Construction and Maintenance Services company Limbach (NASDAQ:LMB) fell 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Limbach? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Ground Transportation company Hertz (NASDAQ:HTZ) fell 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Hertz? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Engineering and Design Services company AECOM (NYSE:ACM) fell 5.7%. Is now the time to buy AECOM? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Aerospace company Boeing (NYSE:BA) fell 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Boeing? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Waste Management company Perma-Fix (NASDAQ:PESI) fell 6.3%. Is now the time to buy Perma-Fix? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On Perma-Fix (PESI)
Perma-Fix’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 31 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 10.8% on the news that the company reported third-quarter results that revealed a significant revenue decline in its Services segment. That segment's revenue fell to $4.3 million from $7.7 million in the same period of the previous year. The company stated this drop was mainly due to delays in Department of Energy and Department of Defense projects, along with slower timing for new awards. Adding to investor concerns, Perma-Fix noted that its expansion into the PFAS market was progressing slower than initially hoped. The company also reported a non-GAAP loss of $0.10 per share during the quarter. These challenges appeared to outweigh positive results in other areas, such as the Treatment segment.
Perma-Fix is up 4.6% since the beginning of the year, but at $11.25 per share, it is still trading 27% below its 52-week high of $15.41 from November 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Perma-Fix’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,733.
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