What Happened?
Shares of media, broadcasting, and digital services company E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ: SSP) fell 2.5% in the afternoon session after the major indices continued to retreat (Nasdaq -1.5%, S&P 500 -1.2%) amid profit-taking and renewed concerns about tariffs.
Investors reacted to a federal court ruling that most of President Trump's global tariffs were illegal, raising uncertainty over trade policy and the fiscal impact of potential refunds. Rising Treasury yields added to the pressure, with the 10-year climbing above 4.2% and the 30-year nearing 5%, intensifying worries about stretched equity valuations. September's historically weak track record for stocks further dampened sentiment, leaving traders cautious ahead of the jobs report later in the week and the Federal Reserve's upcoming rate decision.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
E.W. Scripps’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 88 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 8 days ago when the stock dropped 4.2% on the news that UBS downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'neutral', citing concerns over upcoming headwinds. The investment bank expressed concerns that the mid-term consensus for the company appears stretched in light of upcoming headwinds. UBS specifically pointed to weak volumes and lower near-term capacity, which it believes put current market consensus estimates at risk. This negative assessment from a major financial institution is the clear catalyst for the negative investor sentiment surrounding the stock.
E.W. Scripps is up 14.7% since the beginning of the year, but at $2.89 per share, it is still trading 30.4% below its 52-week high of $4.15 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of E.W. Scripps’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $255.53.
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