What Happened?
Shares of office furniture manufacturer MillerKnoll (NASDAQ:MLKN) fell 7.3% in the afternoon session after the company reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations but provided a disappointing revenue forecast for the upcoming quarter.
Although MillerKnoll's sales of $955.7 million were up 10.9% year-on-year and its adjusted earnings of $0.45 per share surpassed analyst estimates, investors focused on signs of future weakness. The company's revenue guidance for the next quarter, with a midpoint of $946 million, fell short of Wall Street's projections. This weaker outlook overshadowed the strong results from the completed quarter, suggesting concerns about slowing demand ahead.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy MillerKnoll? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
MillerKnoll’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 previous big move we wrote about was about 21 hours ago when the stock dropped 3.3% on the news that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered cautious remarks on the economy, spooking investors and pulling indexes back from record highs.
Speaking for the first time since the central bank's recent interest rate cut, Powell described the current economic landscape as a "challenging situation." He highlighted the difficult task of balancing a weakening labor market against persistent inflation risks. Powell also commented that equity prices appeared "fairly highly valued," adding to investor concerns and prompting profit-taking. The cautious tone from the Fed chair drove declines across major indexes, including the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq, as the market reassessed the path forward for monetary policy.
MillerKnoll is down 21.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $17.59 per share, it is trading 32.1% below its 52-week high of $25.89 from December 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of MillerKnoll’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $579.98.
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