What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after a softened tone from President Donald Trump on U.S.-China relations boosted investor sentiment.
The positive shift followed a weekend post on Truth Social where Trump stated, "Don't worry about China, it will all be fine!" and expressed a desire to help rather than hurt the country's economy. This statement provided significant relief to markets that had ended the prior week with steep losses. In response, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.2%, the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.3% higher, as investors' fears of escalating trade tensions subsided.
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:
- Ground Transportation company ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) jumped 2.8%. Is now the time to buy ArcBest? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Specialty Equipment Distributors company United Rentals (NYSE:URI) jumped 2.9%. Is now the time to buy United Rentals? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Aerospace company Howmet (NYSE:HWM) jumped 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Howmet? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Marine Transportation company Matson (NYSE:MATX) jumped 3%. Is now the time to buy Matson? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- General Industrial Machinery company Albany (NYSE:AIN) jumped 3.1%. Is now the time to buy Albany? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On Howmet (HWM)
Howmet’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 2 months ago when the stock dropped 10.2% on the news that the company reported record-breaking second-quarter financial results that were overshadowed by a decline in its Forged Wheels business segment. The company posted record second-quarter revenue of $2.05 billion and a 36% jump in adjusted earnings per share, and also lifted its full-year financial outlook. However, investors appeared to focus on a weak spot in the report. Howmet's Forged Wheels segment, which serves commercial transportation, experienced a 1% revenue dip. The company connected this to a broader 4% decline in the commercial transportation market. This specific weakness, combined with the stock's nearly 76% rally year-to-date, likely prompted investors to take profits despite the strong headline numbers.
Howmet is up 72.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $191 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $196.23 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Howmet’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $10,700.
Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we’ve identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link.