What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the UAE intercepted Iranian missiles, marking the first major breach of the April ceasefire and sparking concerns that corporate clients will once again pull back on discretionary spending.
Business services firms staffing, consulting, outsourcing, and professional services depend on robust client willingness to commission new projects and expand headcount engagements.
When CFOs face a fresh oil shock and renewed inflation, the typical playbook is to delay non-essential project starts and tighten procurement. Investors are recalibrating expectations for backlog growth and book-to-bill ratios across the sector as the macro uncertainty extends.
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:
- Business Process Outsourcing & Consulting company FTI Consulting (NYSE: FCN) fell 5.2%. Is now the time to buy FTI Consulting? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Office & Commercial Furniture company MillerKnoll (NASDAQ: MLKN) fell 4%. Is now the time to buy MillerKnoll? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Office & Commercial Furniture company Interface (NASDAQ: TILE) fell 4%. Is now the time to buy Interface? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On FTI Consulting (FCN)
FTI Consulting’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 biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 9 months ago when the stock gained 5.4% on the news that the company lowered its full-year earnings and revenue forecast, signaling a more challenging outlook ahead.
The lowered forecast overshadowed second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates. FTI reported Q2 revenue of $943.7 million and adjusted EBITDA of $111.6 million, surpassing analysts' expectations. However, the company cut its full-year earnings per share (EPS) projection to a range of $7.24 to $7.84, down from a previous forecast of $7.44 to $8.24. The revenue outlook for the year was also trimmed.
The mixed performance reflected varied results across its business units, as revenue growth in its Corporate Finance, Forensic and Litigation, and Strategic Communications segments was offset by declines in its Economic Consulting and Technology segments. Overall, the negative forward-looking statements appeared to weigh more heavily on investors than the quarterly beat.
FTI Consulting is down 1.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $168.10 per share, it is trading 10.1% below its 52-week high of $187.03 from April 2026. Despite the year-to-date decline, investors who bought $1,000 worth of FTI Consulting’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,182.
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