What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East raised concerns over higher inflation and a potential economic slowdown. 

The conflict, involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran, caused a surge in energy prices, directly impacting industrial and materials companies by increasing costs for transportation, logistics, and manufacturing. Investors were concerned that sustained high oil prices could put further pressure on inflation, complicating the economic outlook. The broader market sentiment turned negative, with Wall Street heading for a fourth consecutive weekly loss as investors weighed these geopolitical risks. This environment is particularly challenging for cyclical sectors like industrials, which are sensitive to changes in global economic demand and input costs.

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:

• Renewable Energy company Array (NASDAQ: ARRY) fell 5.1%. Is now the time to buy Array? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Waste Management company Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ: CWST) fell 6.1%. Is now the time to buy Casella Waste Systems? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Renewable Energy company Nextpower (NASDAQ: NXT) fell 5.3%. Is now the time to buy Nextpower? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Renewable Energy company Fluence Energy (NASDAQ: FLNC) fell 6.6%. Is now the time to buy Fluence Energy? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• General Industrial Machinery company Albany (NYSE: AIN) fell 4.6%. Is now the time to buy Albany? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Fluence Energy (FLNC)

Fluence Energy’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 85 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 biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 5 months ago when the stock gained 21.3% on the news that investor optimism grew after JPMorgan announced a significant investment program benefiting the battery storage sector and the company's CEO highlighted rising U.S. demand. 

The investment firm detailed a $1.5 trillion program spread over ten years, with $10 billion specifically covering key areas for Fluence, including battery storage and grid resilience. Adding to the positive news, Fluence's CEO, Julian Nebreda, noted that strong power demand from data centers was expected to fuel a surge in U.S. orders, projecting that this business would contribute half of the company's global demand. This momentum built on positive news from the previous day when an analyst at Susquehanna raised the stock's price target, pointing to favorable policies like the Inflation Reduction Act and the company's strong backlog.

Fluence Energy is down 34.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $15.04 per share, it is trading 53.3% below its 52-week high of $32.23 from February 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Fluence Energy’s shares at the IPO in October 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $429.71.

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