What Happened?
Shares of aerospace and defense company Howmet (NYSE: HWM) jumped 6.2% in the afternoon session after the broader market rebounded from a tech-driven sell-off, with investors taking the opportunity to buy stocks at lower prices.
This rally was fueled by a recovery in technology stocks and a significant bounce in Bitcoin, which stabilized after losing over half its value from its October peak. Investor sentiment was also lifted by a surprising improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment and the realization that massive AI-related capital expenditure, such as Amazon's planned $200 billion, directly benefits chipmakers like Nvidia and Broadcom. These "pick-and-shovel" winners jumped as much as 7%, helping the S&P 500 edge back into positive territory for 2026. The highlight of the day was the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which surged and crossed the historic 50,000 threshold for the first time.
The shares closed the day at $223.14, up 6.4% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Howmet’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 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 previous big move we wrote about was 28 days ago when the stock gained 3.3% on the news that Baird raised its price target on the company to $310 from $225 while keeping an Outperform rating. This sentiment was echoed by other firms, as both Bernstein and BofA Securities also increased their price targets. The positive outlook from analysts appeared to be rooted in the company's solid financial results. Howmet had demonstrated strong year-over-year revenue growth, fueled by notable increases in its commercial and defense aerospace segments. In addition, the company had previously raised its own financial guidance, citing expectations for healthy market demand and potential market share gains.
Howmet is up 3.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $220 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $225 from January 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Howmet’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $7,931.
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