What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the morning session after the latest industrial production report showed slower-than-expected growth for July. Data from the Federal Reserve indicated that U.S. industrial production rose by 0.2%, which was half of the 0.4% increase that analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal had anticipated. While this marked the second consecutive month of growth, it represented a slowdown from the previous month's revised figures. Manufacturing output also saw a modest 0.2% increase. This weaker-than-forecast data can raise concerns among investors about cooling economic activity and potentially softening demand for manufactured goods, which directly impacts the outlook for companies across the industrial sector.

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:

• Electrical Systems company Powell (NASDAQ: POWL) fell 8.4%. Is now the time to buy Powell? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Engineering and Design Services company Sterling (NASDAQ: STRL) fell 7%. Is now the time to buy Sterling? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Electrical Systems company Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) fell 6.6%. Is now the time to buy Vertiv? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Renewable Energy company Nextpower (NASDAQ: NXT) fell 6.1%. Is now the time to buy Nextpower? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Electrical Systems company Hubbell (NYSE: HUBB) fell 3.9%. Is now the time to buy Hubbell? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Powell (POWL)

Powell’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 41 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 9 months ago when the stock dropped 11% on the news that the stock's negative momentum continued as the company reported third-quarter 2025 revenue and earnings that surpassed analyst expectations, but its results also included signs of slowing growth. While revenue grew 8.3% year-on-year to $298 million and GAAP earnings per share of $4.22 beat Wall Street's estimates, investors seemed to focus on potential headwinds. The company's backlog of future work, a key indicator of demand, grew by 7.7% year-on-year to $1.4 billion. This rate was slower than its revenue growth, which can suggest that new orders are not keeping pace with current sales. Furthermore, analysts' forward-looking estimates project that revenue growth will decelerate to 6.1% over the next 12 months and that full-year earnings per share will remain flat, pointing to a less robust outlook.

Powell is up 71.8% since the beginning of the year, but at $201.91 per share, it is still trading 37.3% below its 52-week high of $322.05 from May 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Powell’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $23,923.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE: The Next Palantir? One satellite company captures images of every point on Earth. Every single day. The Pentagon wants it. Hedge funds are using it to beat earnings. You’ve probably never heard of it.

This is what the early days of Palantir looked like before it became a giant. Same playbook. Different technology. If you missed Palantir, you need to see this. Claim The Stock Ticker for Free HERE.