What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed inflation holding steady, bolstering investor optimism for a potential interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The data, which revealed that inflation remained at 2.7% for the year ending in July, was seen as a positive sign by investors. This stability increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve might lower interest rates at its upcoming September meeting. Lower interest rates can stimulate the economy by making borrowing cheaper for both consumers and businesses, which often translates into higher consumer spending. This is particularly beneficial for the Consumer Discretionary sector, which includes companies selling non-essential goods and services like apparel, travel, and electronics.
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:
- Real Estate Services company Offerpad (NYSE:OPAD) jumped 8.1%. Is now the time to buy Offerpad? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Wireless, Cable and Satellite company Altice (NYSE:ATUS) jumped 9.3%. Is now the time to buy Altice? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Leisure Facilities company Topgolf Callaway (NYSE:MODG) jumped 5.9%. Is now the time to buy Topgolf Callaway? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Broadcasting company E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) jumped 27.2%. Is now the time to buy E.W. Scripps? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Travel and Vacation Providers company Lindblad Expeditions (NASDAQ:LIND) jumped 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Lindblad Expeditions? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On E.W. Scripps (SSP)
E.W. Scripps’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 91 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for E.W. Scripps and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 4 days ago when the stock dropped 7.6% on the news that the company reported second-quarter financial results that missed Wall Street's expectations for both revenue and earnings. The company reported revenue of $540.1 million, a 5.8% year-over-year decline that narrowly missed the $544.4 million analysts had anticipated. The earnings miss was more pronounced, with a reported GAAP loss of $0.59 per share, significantly worse than the consensus estimate of a $0.22 loss per share. This was also a steeper loss than the $0.15 per share loss from the same quarter last year. While the company did beat expectations for adjusted EBITDA and improved its operating margin, investors were likely focused on the top-line miss and the stark earnings shortfall. The results also came amid longer-term concerns, with analysts forecasting a revenue decline of 8.6% over the next 12 months.
E.W. Scripps is up 29.8% since the beginning of the year, but at $3.27 per share, it is still trading 21.2% below its 52-week high of $4.15 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of E.W. Scripps’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $279.97.
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