What Happened?
Shares of manufacturing equipment and systems provider Advanced Energy (NASDAQ: AEIS) jumped 12.8% in the morning session after the company reported third-quarter results that surpassed analyst expectations and provided an upbeat revenue forecast for the next quarter. Revenue for the quarter grew 23.8% year on year to $463.3 million, while non-GAAP earnings came in at $1.74 per share, both comfortably beating consensus estimates. The company's operating margin also saw a significant improvement, rising to 10.6% from -3% in the same quarter last year. Looking ahead, Advanced Energy gave a fourth-quarter revenue forecast with a midpoint of $470 million, which was well above what analysts were expecting. However, the company's earnings guidance of $1.00 per share for the same period was below consensus estimates. Despite the mixed outlook, investors appeared to focus on the strong top-line performance and robust revenue guidance, which suggest healthy demand for the company's products.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Advanced Energy’s shares are quite volatile and have had 19 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Advanced Energy and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock dropped 4.7% on the news that markets became increasingly wary of high valuations following a significant AI-driven rally. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell approximately 1.4% as a wave of caution swept through the market. A key example of this trend is Palantir Technologies, which saw its shares drop around 7% despite reporting record quarterly results that surpassed analyst estimates and raising its full-year revenue outlook. This seemingly contradictory movement highlighted a broader sentiment shift. Investors appeared to be engaging in profit-taking, concerned that the recent surge in AI-related stocks had led to stretched valuations. This broader market caution affected high-growth technology companies that had previously surged on AI optimism but faced increased scrutiny, signaling a potential cooling-off period for the sector. Adding serious weight to this caution, leadership at both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley highlighted the possibility of a correction in the equity markets over the next couple of years. Despite the euphoria driven by AI optimism and the promise of future rate cuts, these banks viewed this cooling-off period not as a disaster, but as a necessary and healthy feature of a long-term bull market.
Advanced Energy is up 97.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $227.90 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Advanced Energy’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,713.
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