What Happened?

Shares of manufacturing company Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) jumped 29.7% in the afternoon session after the company reported strong first-quarter 2025 results: its revenue was in line with Wall Street's targets, while its EPS topped expectations. Despite the top-line decline, margins improved. That margin expansion, combined with cost control, helped adjusted EPS to clear analyst expectations. Overall, this was a good quarter.

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What The Market Is Telling Us

Leggett & Platt’s shares are very volatile and have had 23 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Leggett & Platt and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 12 months ago when the stock dropped 32.4% on the news that the company reported weak first quarter results with its revenue and EPS falling below Wall Street's estimates. The company stated its underperformance stemmed from weak demand in its residential end markets. Additionally, operating cash flows were negative $6 million, down from $103 million in Q1 2023. This was primarily driven by lower accounts payable and earnings. Looking ahead, the company reconfirmed its revenue guidance for the full year, but its earnings forecast missed. Overall, this was a bad quarter for Leggett & Platt.

Leggett & Platt is down 0.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $9.51 per share, it is trading 48.1% below its 52-week high of $18.33 from April 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Leggett & Platt’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $263.26.

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