What Happened?
Shares of workforce solutions provider ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) jumped 2.7% in the afternoon session after BMO Capital upgraded the company's stock to Outperform from Market Perform.
The firm also set a price target of $44. In a research note to investors, the analyst explained that the best time to buy staffing stocks was toward the end of a recession. While the global economy was not there yet, the note stated the staffing sector had been in a recession for some time. BMO expressed a belief that ManpowerGroup's operating trends would improve and saw an attractive entry point at current share levels.
The shares closed the day at $30.55, up 3.2% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
ManpowerGroup’s shares are very volatile and have had 20 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 15.9% on the news that the company reported underwhelming first quarter 2025 results: Its EBITDA and EPS missed Wall Street's expectations.
On a brighter note, revenue came in ahead of expectations. However, this modest beat was not enough to offset the significant drop in earnings, as profits were pulled down by higher restructuring costs and tax charges. Looking ahead, EPS guidance for next quarter missed significantly, indicating continued margin pressure and limited visibility on near-term recovery, particularly in Europe. Overall, this was a weaker quarter.
ManpowerGroup is up 1.6% since the beginning of the year, but at $30.55 per share, it is still trading 51.3% below its 52-week high of $62.66 from March 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of ManpowerGroup’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $321.63.
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