What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after reports revealed tech giant Oracle is generating lower-than-expected margins in its cloud business and losing money on Nvidia chip rentals. 

The news caused Oracle's shares to tumble over 5% and sparked a wider tech sell-off, pulling the S&P 500 and Nasdaq down. Investors are growing concerned about the actual strength and profitability of artificial intelligence demand, which has been a primary driver of the market's recent record-breaking run. Oracle's struggles suggest that the massive capital investments required for AI, such as acquiring expensive chips, may not be translating into immediate or guaranteed profits. This has led to broader anxiety that the AI boom's financial returns might be less certain than previously anticipated, causing traders to pull back from the sector.

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:

• Automation Software company Appian (NASDAQ: APPN) fell 2.6%. Is now the time to buy Appian? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Design Software company Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ: CDNS) fell 2.6%. Is now the time to buy Cadence Design Systems? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Zooming In On Appian (APPN)

Appian’s shares are very volatile and have had 22 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 19 days ago when the stock gained 4.2% on the news that investors scooped up equities, shaking off the initial concerns inferred from the Fed's dot plot, with tech stocks leading the charge. 

As a reminder, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points the previous day and signaled that more reductions could come before year-end and beyond. Initially when the cut was announced and Fed Chair Powell held his press conference, there was a pullback in the market as the Fed's "dot plot" revealed that only one cut was likely for 2026. This was below the three cuts that had been priced into the markets. This was the first interest rate cut of 2025, a move investors had widely anticipated. In response to the decision, stocks rose significantly, positioning major indexes like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to open at record levels. 

The Fed's decision was influenced by signs of a weakening labor market. Lower interest rates are generally seen as positive for stocks because they reduce borrowing costs for businesses and make fixed-income investments like bonds less attractive by comparison, driving capital into the equity market. While Fed Chair Powell noted the path forward has risks, the prospect of looser monetary policy has fueled optimism on Wall Street.

Appian is down 11.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $29.31 per share, it is trading 29.5% below its 52-week high of $41.56 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Appian’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $397.10.

Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we’ve identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link.