What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after markets continued to decline, as investors grew cautious ahead of a key speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The move came as U.S. equity markets recorded a fifth consecutive day of losses for major indexes like the S&P 500, with technology stocks experiencing the largest declines. Investors have grown wary that the sharp rally in the tech sector since April may have advanced too far. The market-wide caution is largely driven by the upcoming Jackson Hole symposium, a meeting of central bankers, where traders are anxiously awaiting Fed Chair Powell's speech on Friday for guidance on the future path of interest rates.
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:
- Specialized Technology company OSI Systems (NASDAQ: OSIS) fell 6%. Is now the time to buy OSI Systems? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Medical Devices & Supplies - Imaging, Diagnostics company QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ: QDEL) fell 3.4%. Is now the time to buy QuidelOrtho? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Advertising & Marketing Services company QuinStreet (NASDAQ: QNST) fell 3.8%. Is now the time to buy QuinStreet? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Hardware & Infrastructure company Xerox (NASDAQ: XRX) fell 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Xerox? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Investment Banking & Brokerage company Piper Sandler (NYSE: PIPR) fell 5%. Is now the time to buy Piper Sandler? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On OSI Systems (OSIS)
OSI Systems’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 13 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 previous big move we wrote about was 9 days ago when the stock gained 3.6% on the news that a key inflation report met expectations, bolstering hopes for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut, while a separate report indicated rising optimism among small businesses.
The July Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed annual inflation holding steady at 2.7%, aligning with forecasts and increasing the probability of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut to over 94%. Lower interest rates can stimulate the economy by making it cheaper for businesses to borrow and invest. Further boosting confidence, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index rose to a five-month high. This is a crucial indicator for the Business Services sector, as many of its companies cater to small and medium-sized enterprises. The combined positive data fueled a broad, "risk-on" sentiment, where investors favor economically sensitive sectors, leading to gains across IT services, staffing, and manufacturing.
OSI Systems is up 27.1% since the beginning of the year, but at $210.19 per share, it is still trading 12.1% below its 52-week high of $239.05 from June 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of OSI Systems’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,802.
Today’s young investors won’t have read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next.
