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:
- Electronic Components & Manufacturing company Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX) fell 3.6%. Is now the time to buy Flex? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Hardware & Infrastructure company Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) fell 4.9%. Is now the time to buy Pure Storage? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Hardware & Infrastructure company Xerox (NASDAQ: XRX) fell 4.4%. Is now the time to buy Xerox? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Industrial & Environmental Services company CECO Environmental (NASDAQ: CECO) fell 4.6%. Is now the time to buy CECO Environmental? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Terrestrial Telecommunication Services company Cogent (NASDAQ: CCOI) fell 3.4%. Is now the time to buy Cogent? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On Pure Storage (PSTG)
Pure Storage’s shares are very volatile and have had 28 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 previous big move we wrote about was 6 days ago when the stock gained 9.6% on the news that the company announced a major rebranding to 'Everpure' and its intent to acquire data intelligence firm 1touch, signaling a strategic shift ahead of its earnings report. This name change, announced on February 23, 2026, reflected the company's transition from a hardware vendor to a comprehensive data management provider. The planned acquisition of 1touch, a specialist in data discovery and security, was intended to strengthen its software and AI capabilities. These strategic moves occurred just as investors awaited the company's fiscal fourth-quarter results. Analysts expected to see strong year-over-year growth in both earnings and revenue, driven by booming demand for AI-ready storage infrastructure.
Pure Storage is down 9.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $62.25 per share, it is trading 36.9% below its 52-week high of $98.70 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Pure Storage’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,844.
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