What Happened?
Shares of diversified industrial manufacturing company Worthington (NYSE:WOR) fell 15.4% in the morning session after the company reported fiscal first quarter 2026 earnings as high expectations overshadowed its better-than-expected revenue and earnings.
For the third quarter, Worthington announced adjusted earnings per share of $0.74 on revenue of $303.7 million. Both figures surpassed Wall Street's expectations, with revenue growing 18% year-over-year. The sharp negative reaction suggested that the market was expecting more.
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 Worthington? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Worthington’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for Worthington and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 6 days ago when the stock gained 3.2% on the news that investors scooped up equities, shaking off the initial concerns inferred from the Fed's dot plot, with tech stocks leading the charge.
As a reminder, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points the previous day and signaled that more reductions could come before year-end and beyond. Initially when the cut was announced and Fed Chair Powell held his press conference, there was a pullback in the market as the Fed's "dot plot" revealed that only one cut was likely for 2026. This was below the three cuts that had been priced into the markets. This was the first interest rate cut of 2025, a move investors had widely anticipated.
In response to the decision, stocks rose significantly, positioning major indexes like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to open at record levels.
The Fed's decision was influenced by signs of a weakening labor market. Lower interest rates are generally seen as positive for stocks because they reduce borrowing costs for businesses and make fixed-income investments like bonds less attractive by comparison, driving capital into the equity market.
While Fed Chair Powell noted the path forward has risks, the prospect of looser monetary policy fueled optimism on Wall Street.
Worthington is up 32.9% since the beginning of the year, but at $51.78 per share, it is still trading 23.2% below its 52-week high of $67.39 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Worthington’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,352.
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