What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.5%–3.75%, where it sat since the central bank cut by three-quarters of a point in late 2025, while its dot plot signaled the easing cycle might reverse.
For IT services companies that relies on multi-year enterprise transformation contracts, the message from the FOMC was unfavorable: CFOs who had been loosening IT budgets in anticipation of further rate relief now face a financing environment pointing in the opposite direction.
Discretionary IT spend is typically one of the first budget lines to compress when the rate outlook hardens. The dollar also strengthened on the session's yield surge, reducing the value of US-dollar earnings that offshore-heavy firms like Infosys, Cognizant, and Wipro translate from lower-cost operating bases abroad.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- IT Services & Consulting company EPAM (NYSE: EPAM) fell 4.9%. Is now the time to buy EPAM? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- IT Services & Consulting company Gartner (NYSE: IT) fell 4%. Is now the time to buy Gartner? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- IT Services & Consulting company Accenture (NYSE: ACN) fell 4.2%. Is now the time to buy Accenture? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On EPAM (EPAM)
EPAM’s shares are quite volatile and have had 18 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 biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 8 months ago when the stock gained 8% on the news that the company announced a new stock repurchase program of up to $1 billion.
The company's Board of Directors authorized the program, which will have a term of 24 months. Stock buybacks are often viewed positively by investors because they reduce the number of shares outstanding, which can increase earnings per share. This move signaled management's confidence in the company's financial health and future prospects.
The company’s CFO, Jason Peterson, added that they “remain confident in the underlying strength of our business reflected by three quarters of improving year-over-year organic constant currency revenue growth.” The repurchases may occur through open market or private transactions.
EPAM is down 55.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $89.02 per share, it is trading 59.8% below its 52-week high of $221.40 from January 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of EPAM’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $172.99.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: The Next Palantir? One satellite company captures images of every point on Earth. Every single day. The Pentagon wants it. Hedge funds are using it to beat earnings. You’ve probably never heard of it.
This is what the early days of Palantir looked like before it became a $437 billion giant. Same playbook. Different technology. If you missed Palantir, you need to see this. Claim The Stock Ticker for Free HERE.
