What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller signaled support for holding interest rates steady amid emerging signs of disinflation. During a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker interview, Governor Waller stated that if the positive economic trends seen over the last few months continue in the data due over the next two weeks, he would be inclined to support holding the federal funds target rate at its current setting. Waller pointed out that the three-month annualized inflation rate as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index has dropped from 4.76% in February to 3.05% currently, representing an encouraging downward trajectory. However, Waller warned that considerable uncertainty remains regarding how global conflicts, trade policy, and artificial intelligence will affect prices, according to Bloomberg. He cautioned that if upcoming August data shows this disinflationary progress has been fleeting, a rate hike may still be appropriate when the FOMC meets on September 15 and 16. Following Waller’s comments, market-implied odds for a September rate hike dropped to 48.4%, down 15 percentage points from the prior day, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch gauge cited by CNBC.
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:
- Financial Exchanges & Data company Morningstar (NASDAQ: MORN) jumped 2.9%. Is now the time to buy Morningstar? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Financial Exchanges & Data company Moody's (NYSE: MCO) jumped 2.9%. Is now the time to buy Moody's? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Investment Banking & Brokerage company Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) jumped 3.1%. Is now the time to buy Goldman Sachs? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Investment Banking & Brokerage company Lazard (NYSE: LAZ) jumped 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Lazard? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Diversified Capital Markets company StoneX (NASDAQ: SNEX) jumped 3.3%. Is now the time to buy StoneX? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Lazard (LAZ)
Lazard’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 12 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 3 months ago when the stock dropped 9.1% on the news that the company reported preliminary assets under management (AUM) for May 2026 that included net outflows of $1.4 billion. Although the firm's total AUM grew to approximately $284.8 billion from $275.4 billion in the previous month, this increase was primarily due to $11.6 billion in market appreciation. Investors focused on the net outflows, which indicate that clients withdrew more money than they deposited. The negative sentiment was compounded by a $0.7 billion depreciation due to foreign exchange rates. These withdrawals raised investor concerns about the firm's ability to retain and attract client assets, overshadowing the growth from market performance.
Lazard is down 11% since the beginning of the year, and at $44.28 per share, it is trading 22.6% below its 52-week high of $57.22 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Lazard’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $915.48.
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