What Happened?
Shares of workforce solutions provider ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN) fell 3.1% in the afternoon session after an analyst at UBS lowered the company's price target to $32 from $39, citing a subdued outlook.
While the analyst kept a 'Neutral' rating on the stock, the reduced price target reflected expectations of a "somewhat messy bottoming" process for the shares. The firm's projection for Manpower's fourth-quarter earnings per share came in slightly below market consensus, based on an anticipated decline in profit margins. The cautious view on the staffing company came amid broader signs of a weakening job market.
The shares closed the day at $30.07, down 2.9% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
ManpowerGroup’s shares are very volatile and have had 20 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 2 days ago when the stock gained 2.7% on the news that BMO Capital upgraded the company's stock to Outperform from Market Perform.
The firm also set a price target of $44. In a research note to investors, the analyst explained that the best time to buy staffing stocks was toward the end of a recession. While the global economy was not there yet, the note stated the staffing sector had been in a recession for some time. BMO expressed a belief that ManpowerGroup's operating trends would improve and saw an attractive entry point at current share levels.
ManpowerGroup is flat since the beginning of the year, and at $30.07 per share, it is trading 52% below its 52-week high of $62.66 from March 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of ManpowerGroup’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $322.93.
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