What Happened?
Shares of electronics manufacturing services provider Benchmark (NYSE: BHE) fell 3.1% in the afternoon session after a research firm lowered its price target and a separate analysis pointed to a weak earnings outlook.
The move came after research firm Needham reduced its price target on the stock to $48 from $50, citing a tariff-related impact on demand. This analyst action compounded broader concerns after a separate analysis pointed to a weak outlook, with analysts estimating a 15% decrease in earnings over the coming year. The negative sentiment built upon a weak first-quarter report from April, where the company's sales fell 6% year-over-year, missing expectations. Investors also looked ahead to the company's upcoming second-quarter earnings release, which created additional uncertainty around the stock.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Benchmark’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 9 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be 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 14.7% on the news that the company reported weak first quarter 2025 results: its revenue missed and its revenue and EPS guidance for the next quarter fell slightly short of Wall Street's estimates. Sales declined 6% year over year, driven by broad-based weakness across key sectors like Medical, Industrial, and Advanced Computing, with only the Aerospace and Semiconductor units posting growth. On the other hand, Benchmark beat analysts' EPS expectations this quarter. Still, this was a weaker quarter.
Benchmark is down 12.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $39.54 per share, it is trading 23.7% below its 52-week high of $51.83 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Benchmark’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,001.
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