What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after energy stocks pulled back despite oil prices remaining structurally elevated, as WTI crude fell 1.76% to $91.40 a barrel (still more than 40% above year-ago levels).
The president said US-Iran talks were "progressing well" and reiterated he would be "honored" to meet Iran's supreme leader to make a deal, raising the possibility that Strait of Hormuz disruptions could ease faster than the market had priced. Energy stocks trade a risk premium derived from supply scarcity. If a ceasefire materializes, that premium unwinds sharply.
The stronger-than-expected jobs report added a second layer: higher interest rates increase the cost of capital for exploration and production companies carrying significant debt, compressing returns on future investment. Investors reduced exposure ahead of any deal announcement rather than waiting to react.
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:
- Oilfield Services company ProFrac (NASDAQ: ACDC) fell 10.1%. Is now the time to buy ProFrac? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Oilfield Services company ProPetro (NYSE: PUMP) fell 8.1%. Is now the time to buy ProPetro? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Mixed or Offshore Upstream E&P company Centrus Energy (NYSE: LEU) fell 10.1%. Is now the time to buy Centrus Energy? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Centrus Energy (LEU)
Centrus Energy’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 87 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Centrus Energy and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 18 days ago when the stock dropped 5.4% as uranium prices slipped, extending a multi-month pullback from January's highs.
Spot uranium edged down to $85.95 per pound, a modest decline on the session but part of a broader retreat from the $94+ range hit in late January, when prices briefly touched two-year highs above $100.
The weakness reflected short-term trading dynamics more than fundamental softening. As spot prices approached the $95–$100 zone, holders took profits, capping the rally. Geopolitical uncertainty also tempered risk appetite for speculative commodity exposure. Centrus is particularly sensitive to uranium sentiment despite earning the bulk of its revenue from enrichment services (SWU) rather than raw uranium sales.
As the only U.S.-based provider of HALEU, the high-assay low-enriched uranium needed for advanced reactors, the stock has become a proxy for the nuclear fuel cycle, and trades at a valuation that leaves little room for disappointment. That makes shares vulnerable to any cooling in uranium prices, even when the longer-term setup remains intact: hyperscaler demand from Meta and Microsoft for nuclear-powered AI data centers, U.S. regulatory tailwinds for domestic enrichers, and steady utility contracting activity all continue to support the structural bull case.
Centrus Energy is down 38.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $166.44 per share, it is trading 61.8% below its 52-week high of $436 from October 2025. Despite the year-to-date decline, investors who bought $1,000 worth of Centrus Energy’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $6,589.
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