What Happened?

A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after the broader market rebounded from a tech-driven sell-off, with investors taking the opportunity to buy stocks at lower prices. 

This rally was fueled by a recovery in technology stocks and a significant bounce in Bitcoin, which stabilized after losing over half its value from its October peak. Investor sentiment was also lifted by a surprising improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment and the realization that massive AI-related capital expenditure, such as Amazon's planned $200 billion, directly benefits chipmakers like Nvidia and Broadcom. These "pick-and-shovel" winners jumped as much as 7%, helping the S&P 500 edge back into positive territory for 2026. The highlight of the day was the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which surged and crossed the historic 50,000 threshold for the first time.

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:

• Heavy Transportation Equipment company Wabash (NYSE: WNC) jumped 2.6%. Is now the time to buy Wabash? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Defense Contractors company Parsons (NYSE: PSN) jumped 2.7%. Is now the time to buy Parsons? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Commercial Building Products company AZZ (NYSE: AZZ) jumped 2.7%. Is now the time to buy AZZ? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Maintenance and Repair Distributors company Distribution Solutions (NASDAQ: DSGR) jumped 2.7%. Is now the time to buy Distribution Solutions? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Engineering and Design Services company AECOM (NYSE: ACM) jumped 2.5%. Is now the time to buy AECOM? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On AZZ (AZZ)

AZZ’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 4 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 previous big move we wrote about was 29 days ago when the stock gained 4.7% on the news that the company reported fourth-quarter results that surpassed analyst expectations for both revenue and profit. Revenue increased 5.5% from the same period in the previous year to $425.7 million, while adjusted earnings came in at $1.52 per share, with both figures beating Wall Street's forecasts. In addition to the solid quarterly results, management provided full-year revenue guidance of $1.66 billion, which was above analyst estimates. The company also slightly raised its outlook for full-year adjusted earnings per share, signaling confidence in its future performance.

AZZ is up 18.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $130 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of AZZ’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,568.

While Wall Street chases Nvidia at all-time highs, an under-the-radar semiconductor supplier is dominating a critical AI component these giants can’t build without. Click here to access our full research report, it’s free.