What happened
Shares of software and technology consulting company EPAM Systems (EPAM -0.58%) are off by 43.3% as of 3:03 p.m. ET Monday, spurred lower by recent military conflict in eastern Europe, as well as the sweeping sanctions imposed against Russia this weekend following the country's invasion of Ukraine.
So what
While the specter of expanded military conflict in eastern Europe isn't beneficial for any stock, it's particularly problematic for EPAM Systems. The company custom designs software and offers consulting services for a variety of industries all over the world. A great deal of its software development work, however, is done by coders located in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Without any clarity as to when the conflict in those areas may end, today the company opted to withdraw its first-quarter and full-year earnings guidance. While work being done in those areas can be relocated -- as can many of those workers -- it's anybody's guess as to when normalcy might resume, if it ever resumes.
Image source: Getty Images.
Investors, of course, abhor such uncertainty, dumping the stock in earnest today as a result.
Now what
The sheer size of today's tumble is tempting to bargain hunters. And buyers willing to dive in here may well be handsomely rewarded for taking such a risk. There certainly seems to be a great deal of emotion and fear linked to Monday's plunge, and these are generally short-lived drivers. More level-headed thinking could prevail as early as tomorrow.
Even then, however, uncertainty abounds. In light of so many other investment prospects that don't require stepping out in complete faith that the unseen future is a decent one, most investors are better served by steering clear of this ticker until further notice.
