What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after comments from a key Federal Reserve official bolstered hopes for an interest rate cut. New York Federal Reserve President John Williams stated he sees “room for a further adjustment” in the near term, sparking a significant market rally. Following his remarks, the probability of the central bank cutting rates at its December meeting jumped from 39% to over 73%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. This positive sentiment provided relief to markets amid concerns over high valuations, particularly in AI-related stocks.
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:
- Dental Equipment & Technology company Envista (NYSE: NVST) jumped 4.3%. Is now the time to buy Envista? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Health Insurance Providers company Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ: ALHC) jumped 4.4%. Is now the time to buy Alignment Healthcare? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Outpatient & Specialty Care company LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ: LFST) jumped 4.5%. Is now the time to buy LifeStance Health Group? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Research Tools & Consumables company Avantor (NYSE: AVTR) jumped 4.4%. Is now the time to buy Avantor? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Research Tools & Consumables company Bio-Techne (NASDAQ: TECH) jumped 4.5%. Is now the time to buy Bio-Techne? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On LifeStance Health Group (LFST)
LifeStance Health Group’s shares are quite volatile and have had 15 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 4 months ago when the stock gained 11% on the news that the company reported mixed second-quarter 2025 results, delivering an earnings beat and a full-year profit forecast that topped Wall Street estimates.
The mental healthcare provider's revenue for the quarter grew 10.6% year-over-year to $345.3 million, which was in line with analyst forecasts, driven by a 10.7% increase in sales volumes. On the bottom line, the company demonstrated improved profitability, posting a GAAP loss of $0.01 per share. This marked a significant improvement from the $0.06 per-share loss in the same period last year and beat consensus estimates for a $0.03 loss. Looking ahead, management provided a full-year Adjusted EBITDA forecast with a midpoint of $145 million, above analyst expectations. However, the company's revenue guidance for the next quarter came in below estimates, creating a mixed picture for investors.
LifeStance Health Group is down 13.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $6.55 per share, it is trading 19.8% below its 52-week high of $8.17 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of LifeStance Health Group’s shares at the IPO in June 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $299.04.
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