What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the morning session as the broader market tumbled in the morning session after a surprisingly weak U.S. jobs report and the announcement of new, widespread tariffs on imported goods. The U.S. economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, falling far short of the 109,000 forecast. Compounding the issue, job gains for May and June were revised down by a combined 258,000, signaling what some see as “increasing signs of fragility” in the labor market. Simultaneously, the White House announced new tariffs, ranging from 10% to 41%, on goods from 92 countries. This “double whammy” of negative news has intensified fears that ongoing trade wars are damaging the U.S. economy. The combination of a weaker labor market and new trade barriers has rattled investor confidence, fueling expectations that the Federal Reserve may be forced to cut interest rates to support the economy.
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 Improvement Retailer company Floor And Decor (NYSE: FND) fell 3.4%. Is now the time to buy Floor And Decor? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Sports & Outdoor Equipment Retailer company Academy Sports (NASDAQ: ASO) fell 3.6%. Is now the time to buy Academy Sports? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Specialty Retail company Leslie's (NASDAQ: LESL) fell 4.7%. Is now the time to buy Leslie's? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Apparel Retailer company Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) fell 3.5%. Is now the time to buy Urban Outfitters? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Department Store company Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) fell 3.9%. Is now the time to buy Kohl's? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Leslie's (LESL)
Leslie’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 92 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 3 days ago when the stock dropped 31.1% on the news that the company reported weak preliminary third-quarter financial results and withdrew its full-year 2025 guidance. The pool supplies retailer announced its net sales for the quarter declined approximately 12% to around $500 million, a figure that fell significantly short of analysts' expectations. Leslie's attributed the poor performance to unusually wet and cool weather across its key markets, which disrupted the peak pool season. Adding to investor concerns, the company also pulled its financial forecast for the full fiscal year, citing challenging market conditions and its performance so far. The weak preliminary results and guidance withdrawal prompted several analyst firms, including Telsey Advisory Group and Loop Capital, to lower their price targets on the stock.
Leslie's is down 84.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $0.36 per share, it is trading 89.9% below its 52-week high of $3.51 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Leslie’s shares at the IPO in October 2020 would now be looking at an investment worth $16.43.
Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we’ve identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link.
