What Happened?

Shares of electronic manufacturing services company Plexus (NASDAQ: PLXS) fell 11.2% in the afternoon session after its third-quarter earnings report showed a significant beat on profit but included a weak forecast for fourth-quarter revenue. 

While the electronics manufacturing services company posted third-quarter earnings per share of $1.90, which surpassed the analyst estimate of $1.71, its revenue of $1.01 billion slightly missed consensus expectations. The main point of concern for investors was the company's guidance for the upcoming fourth quarter. Plexus forecasted Q4 revenue between $1.025 billion and $1.065 billion, which was below the consensus estimate of $1.084 billion. This weaker outlook suggested a potential slowdown and raised concerns about future growth prospects, causing investors to look past the strong quarterly profit.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

Plexus’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for Plexus and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.

Plexus is down 23.1% since the beginning of the year, and at $119.41 per share, it is trading 30% below its 52-week high of $170.49 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Plexus’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,662.

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