What Happened?

A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after investors continued to pile into value-oriented names amid growing valuation concerns. This shift reflected growing caution over high valuations within the technology and artificial intelligence (AI) spheres. As market participants reassessed risk, they reallocated capital from growth-heavy indices, like the Nasdaq, to companies in areas like industrials and financials, perceived to be more reasonably priced. Contributing to the positive momentum, markets remained hopeful that a prolonged 40-day government shutdown would be over. The U.S. Senate approved a compromise funding package, which was pending a vote in the House. The potential end to the shutdown brought a sense of relief to markets.

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:

• Custody Bank company Voya Financial (NYSE: VOYA) jumped 3.5%. Is now the time to buy Voya Financial? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Custody Bank company StepStone Group (NASDAQ: STEP) jumped 2.8%. Is now the time to buy StepStone Group? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Payment Processing company Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR) jumped 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Shift4? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Student Loan company Navient (NASDAQ: NAVI) jumped 2.9%. Is now the time to buy Navient? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Zooming In On Voya Financial (VOYA)

Voya Financial’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.

Voya Financial is up 5.9% since the beginning of the year, but at $72.68 per share, it is still trading 12.8% below its 52-week high of $83.32 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Voya Financial’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,373.

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