What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after President Trump criticized the Federal Reserve's approach to interest rate cuts, warning that the pace was slow and could hinder economic growth. Trump's comments added pressure to an already sensitive market, raising concerns about political interference in monetary policy. 

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell maintained a cautious stance the previous week, highlighting the difficulty of balancing the dual mandate of steady employment and price stability amid the escalating trade tension. 

Investor sentiment was further dampened by the absence of constructive progress in trade negotiations, especially US-China relations which took a turn for the worse in the previous week. 

Overall, the outlook seemed more unclear heading into the first quarter 2025 earnings season, as a combination of hard to predict monetary policy and unresolved trade tensions weighed on business confidence.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, following stocks were impacted:

• Broadcasting company Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) fell 6.1%. Is now the time to buy Gray Television? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Broadcasting company E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) fell 5.5%. Is now the time to buy E.W. Scripps? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Specialty Equipment Distributors company Herc (NYSE:HRI) fell 7.2%. Is now the time to buy Herc? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• General Industrial Machinery company Kadant (NYSE:KAI) fell 6.6%. Is now the time to buy Kadant? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Electronic Components & Manufacturing company Coherent (NYSE:COHR) fell 6.8%. Is now the time to buy Coherent? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Herc (HRI)

Herc’s shares are very volatile and have had 29 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 6 months ago when the stock gained 12.3% on the news that the company reported strong third-quarter earnings results that blew past analysts' revenue expectations. Notably, the top line outpaced overall industry growth on both a total rental revenue basis and from an organic revenue perspective, which was encouraging. The results were achieved amid tough comps relative to the previous year and a high interest rate environment, which impacted rental revenue. On the other hand, its EPS missed. Overall, we think this was a decent quarter, with some key metrics above expectations.

Herc is down 40.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $109.97 per share, it is trading 54% below its 52-week high of $239.28 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Herc’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $5,409.

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