What Happened?
Shares of equipment distributor Watsco (NYSE:WSO) fell 8.5% in the afternoon session after the company reported underwhelming first-quarter 2025 results. Its revenue missed significantly, and its EBITDA fell short of Wall Street's estimates. Sales fell modestly, and operating income declined by a wider margin as the business was hit by slow demand in new housing and overseas markets. Overall, this was a weaker quarter.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Watsco? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What The Market Is Telling Us
Watsco’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 5 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 2 months ago when the stock gained 8.3% on the news that the company reported strong fourth-quarter 2024 results, which blew past analysts' sales, operating profits, and earnings estimates. Sales rose 9.4% y/y, fueled by double-digit growth in residential HVAC equipment. Zooming out, we think this was a good quarter with some key areas of upside.
Watsco is down 1.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $460.98 per share, it is trading 19% below its 52-week high of $568.78 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Watsco’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,043.
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