What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after markets continued to decline, as investors grew cautious ahead of a key speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The move came as U.S. equity markets recorded a fifth consecutive day of losses for major indexes like the S&P 500, with technology stocks experiencing the largest declines. Investors have grown wary that the sharp rally in the tech sector since April may have advanced too far. The market-wide caution is largely driven by the upcoming Jackson Hole symposium, a meeting of central bankers, where traders are anxiously awaiting Fed Chair Powell's speech on Friday for guidance on the future path of interest rates.
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:
- Home Furnishings company Purple (NASDAQ: PRPL) fell 3.5%. Is now the time to buy Purple? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Medical Devices & Supplies - Specialty company Bausch + Lomb (NYSE: BLCO) fell 3.8%. Is now the time to buy Bausch + Lomb? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Online Marketplace company Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) fell 5.4%. Is now the time to buy Etsy? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Processors and Graphics Chips company Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) fell 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Intel? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Vehicle Retailer company Camping World (NYSE: CWH) fell 3.8%. Is now the time to buy Camping World? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Etsy (ETSY)
Etsy’s shares are very volatile and have had 21 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 7 days ago when the stock dropped 3% on the news that markets pulled back as hotter-than-expected wholesale inflation data was released, raising concerns about the future path of interest rates. The U.S. Labor Department reported that the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level, jumped 3.3% year-over-year in July, significantly above economists' forecasts of 2.5%. This unexpected increase suggests that cost pressures are building for businesses, which could eventually be passed on to consumers. The hotter-than-expected data prompted investors to scale back bets on an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Higher interest rates can dampen economic activity and negatively affect the valuations of growth-oriented stocks, such as those in the internet sector, leading to a broad market retreat.
Etsy is up 16.1% since the beginning of the year, but at $61.66 per share, it is still trading 12% below its 52-week high of $70.09 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Etsy’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $472.92.
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