What happened
Shares of Impinj (PI 3.40%) rose as much as 13.2% on Wednesday morning due to a rosy analyst report. The maker of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and related systems backed down to a milder 11% gain at 1 p.m. EST.
So what
Brokerage firm Dougherty & Co. reiterated its buy rating on Impinj shares this morning, along with a price target of $38 per share. Analyst Charles Anderson cited emerging evidence that Walmart (WMT 1.02%) is stepping up its RFID ambitions in 2020. Anderson's research shows that Walmart will roll out RFID tags on apparel this year, keeping track of each piece of clothing as it moves through the store's supply, inventory, and checkout processes.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Walmart's RFID tagging of apparel could be a precursor to an even larger implementation in the long term, once the retail giant gets comfortable with running RFID systems and relying on collected data to drive better business decisions and more efficient operations. Once mighty Walmart is fully on board, the retail industry as a whole shouldn't be far behind.
That being said, this market move was based on an independent analyst report rather than an official announcement from Impinj or Walmart. I find Impinj's business prospects exciting in the long term, but you should probably wait and see if this speculative jump cools down before hitting the "buy" button.
