What Happened?
Shares of water control and measurement company Badger Meter (NYSE: BMI) fell 18.9% in the afternoon session after the company reported underwhelming first quarter results: sales, adjusted operating income and earnings per share fell short of Wall Street's estimates.
Management attributed the weakness to "variability in project timing," essentially arguing that while the demand exists, the actual installation and billing of large-scale municipal projects shifted out of the first quarter. While the company expressed optimism for a "back-half weighted" 2026 and announced a strategic $100 million acquisition of UDlive to bolster its sewer-monitoring tech, investors are currently penalizing the stock for the near-term execution gap.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Badger Meter? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Badger Meter’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for Badger Meter and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 18 days ago when the stock gained 4.5% on the news that Baird upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and adjusted its price target to $173 from $165.
The upgrade was prompted by what the analyst firm saw as an attractive valuation for the company's shares. Baird also highlighted Badger Meter's limited exposure to risks in the Middle East and a stronger growth outlook for 2026 and 2027. These factors appeared to increase investor confidence in the company's future earnings potential.
Badger Meter is down 30.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $122.97 per share, it is trading 51.6% below its 52-week high of $254.17 from June 2025. Despite the year-to-date decline, investors who bought $1,000 worth of Badger Meter’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,273.
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