What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the release of a stronger-than-expected Producer Price Index (PPI) for January, fueled concerns about inflation and its impact on consumer spending. 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the PPI, a measure of wholesale prices, rose 0.5% in January, exceeding economists' expectations. A significant driver of this increase was a 0.8% advance in the index for final demand services. Specifically, the data showed a sharp 2.5% jump in margins for trade services, which reflects the profits received by wholesalers and retailers. This suggests that businesses are passing on higher costs, potentially including import tariffs, to customers. With recent data also showing a rise in consumer loan delinquencies, investors are worried that already-stretched households will cut back on discretionary purchases, negatively affecting companies tied to consumer spending.

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:

• Apparel Retailer company Victoria's Secret (NYSE: VSCO) fell 5.9%. Is now the time to buy Victoria's Secret? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Footwear Retailer company Boot Barn (NYSE: BOOT) fell 4.4%. Is now the time to buy Boot Barn? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Apparel Retailer company Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) fell 4.4%. Is now the time to buy Urban Outfitters? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Vehicle Retailer company America's Car-Mart (NASDAQ: CRMT) fell 7.5%. Is now the time to buy America's Car-Mart? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Vehicle Retailer company Camping World (NYSE: CWH) fell 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Camping World? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On America's Car-Mart (CRMT)

America's Car-Mart’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 40 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 6 months ago when the stock dropped 22.2% on the news that the company reported disappointing second-quarter results that widely missed analyst expectations. The used vehicle retailer posted revenue of $341.3 million, a decrease of 1.5% compared to the same period last year and short of Wall Street estimates. The more significant concern for investors was the company's bottom-line performance. Car-Mart reported a loss of $0.69 per share, a stark contrast to analysts' forecasts for a profit of $0.83 per share. This loss also widened significantly from the $0.15 per share loss reported in the prior-year quarter. Additionally, same-store sales, which measure performance at established locations, fell by 4.1% year on year, highlighting shrinking demand.

America's Car-Mart is down 17.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $20 per share, it is trading 67.8% below its 52-week high of $62.05 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of America's Car-Mart’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $143.16.

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