What Happened?

Shares of machinery provider H&E (NASDAQ:HEES) fell 9.8% in the morning session after the company reported underwhelming third-quarter earnings results. Its EPS missed, and its revenue fell short of Wall Street's estimates. 

Management added, "Industry fundamentals in the third quarter continued to trail year-ago measures." In addition, HEES observed a slowing rate of growth in construction spending in the U.S. in the first half of the year, which is expected to persist through the remainder of the year. Overall, this was a softer quarter.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy H&E Equipment Services? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

What The Market Is Telling Us

H&E Equipment Services’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.

H&E Equipment Services is up 1.2% since the beginning of the year, but at $52.41 per share, it is still trading 20.1% below its 52-week high of $65.61 from April 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of H&E Equipment Services’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,490.

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