What happened
Shares of IPG Photonics (IPGP 3.14%) fell 10.4% on Monday, despite no material negative news for the fiber laser and amplifier specialist.
To be fair, in a press release this morning, IPG Photonics did announce its acquisition of Ontario, Canada-based Laser Depth Dynamics (LDD), a provider of quality monitoring and control solutions for laser-based welding applications. But terms of the deal weren't disclosed, and LDD is a 16-employee company. With IPG's market capitalization standing tall at roughly $10.8 billion as of this writing, the purchase was almost certainly too small to move the stock on its own.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
So what
But Monday wasn't exactly a pretty session for tech stocks, anyway. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite index fell over 1% today, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund plunged 1.6%. And even after today's decline, IPG Photonics stock is still up more than 100% so far in 2017 -- a happy consequence of several stellar quarters as IPG's customers increasingly adopt better-performing lasers.
It's relatively unsurprising, then, to see some skittish short-term investors taking their profits off the table as the broader market pulls back.
Now what
As it stands, IPG isn't due for another formal quarterly report until February 2018. But in the meantime -- though it certainly doesn't feel good to see your stock fall on any given day -- I think shareholders would do well to continue focusing on IPG's actual business, and to pay little attention to these kinds of no-news moves.
