What Happened?
Shares of school bus company Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) jumped 5.6% in the afternoon session after investors reacted to positive analyst commentary ahead of the company's scheduled earnings report.
The positive sentiment was supported by DA Davidson analyst Michael Shlisky, who confirmed a "Buy" rating for Blue Bird and maintained a $70 price target, signaling continued confidence in the company's prospects. Excitement also built around the company's upcoming quarterly earnings announcement, scheduled for November 24, 2025. Investors recalled that in the previous quarter, Blue Bird surpassed earnings per share (EPS) estimates by $0.26.
The shares closed the day at $53.84, up 6% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Blue Bird’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 11 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 2 months ago when the stock gained 3.1% on the news that investors scooped up equities, shaking off the initial concerns inferred from the Fed's dot plot, with tech stocks leading the charge.
As a reminder, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points yesterday and signaled that more reductions could come before year-end and beyond. Initially when the cut was announced and Fed Chair Powell held his press conference, there was a pullback in the market as the Fed's "dot plot" revealed that only one cut was likely for 2026. This was below the three cuts that had been priced into the markets. This was the first interest rate cut of 2025, a move investors had widely anticipated. In response to the decision, stocks rose significantly, positioning major indexes like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to open at record levels. The Fed's decision was influenced by signs of a weakening labor market.
Lower interest rates are generally seen as positive for stocks because they reduce borrowing costs for businesses and make fixed-income investments like bonds less attractive by comparison, driving capital into the equity market. While Fed Chair Powell noted the path forward has risks, the prospect of looser monetary policy has fueled optimism on Wall Street.
Blue Bird is up 39.6% since the beginning of the year, but at $53.95 per share, it is still trading 11.4% below its 52-week high of $60.86 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Blue Bird’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,295.
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