What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after oil prices fell sharply following reports of de-escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
The positive market sentiment came after President Trump announced that the U.S. has had "very good and productive conversations" with Iran, sparking hopes for an end to the conflict. This news sent the price for a barrel of Brent crude, a key international benchmark, plunging. Companies with significant fuel expenses, such as airlines and cruise operators, were among the day's biggest winners. Fuel is one of the largest operating costs for these industries, so a sustained drop in oil prices can significantly improve their profit margins. Illustrating the trend, shares of American Airlines and United Airlines climbed around 4.9% and 4.5% respectively, while Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings surged 7.9%.
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:
- Electronic Components & Manufacturing company Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX) jumped 5.1%. Is now the time to buy Flex? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Electronic Components & Manufacturing company TTM Technologies (NASDAQ: TTMI) jumped 11.9%. Is now the time to buy TTM Technologies? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Hardware & Infrastructure company IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) jumped 5.4%. Is now the time to buy IonQ? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Office & Commercial Furniture company HNI (NYSE: HNI) jumped 7.9%. Is now the time to buy HNI? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Professional Staffing & HR Solutions company Insperity (NYSE: NSP) jumped 4.5%. Is now the time to buy Insperity? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On TTM Technologies (TTMI)
TTM Technologies’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 51 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for TTM Technologies and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 17 days ago when the stock dropped 4.2% on the news that a dismal February jobs report revealed an unexpected drop in employment, fueling concerns about the health of the economy.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a loss of 92,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, a stark contrast to economists' forecasts which had anticipated a gain. The unemployment rate also edged up to 4.4%. Adding to the bleak picture, employment data for December and January was revised down by a combined 69,000, suggesting the labor market was weaker than previously understood. This report, described by an analyst as a "knock-down blow," indicates that economic weakness is widespread, with job losses occurring in nearly every sector. Such data can signal a potential economic slowdown, which typically leads to lower corporate earnings and reduced consumer spending, rattling investor confidence across the market.
TTM Technologies is up 43.9% since the beginning of the year, but at $101.58 per share, it is still trading 10.1% below its 52-week high of $113 from March 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of TTM Technologies’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $7,143.
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