What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the escalating conflict with Iran threatened to disrupt global oil supplies and fuel inflation. 

U.S. stocks fell as crude oil prices rose for the second consecutive day, with the international benchmark, Brent crude, jumping as much as 13% to over $82 a barrel. The surge came as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical channel for about 20% of the world's oil, were choked off. Analysts were concerned that a prolonged conflict could lead to an inflationary shock. The injection of new uncertainty into the business environment is a hit to confidence, which could lead companies to invest and hire less, potentially derailing an already fragile economy.

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:

• Specialized Technology company Napco (NASDAQ: NSSC) fell 2.6%. Is now the time to buy Napco? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Electronic Components & Manufacturing company Benchmark (NYSE: BHE) fell 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Benchmark? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Electronic Components & Manufacturing company Knowles (NYSE: KN) fell 4.6%. Is now the time to buy Knowles? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Advertising & Marketing Services company Taboola (NASDAQ: TBLA) fell 3.4%. Is now the time to buy Taboola? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Knowles (KN)

Knowles’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 9 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 25 days ago when the stock gained 8.6% on the news that the major indices rebounded from a week of heavy selling. 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.

Knowles is up 19.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $26.29 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $28.48 from February 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Knowles’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,259.

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