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What Does 'Bottomed Out' Mean?

By Chidinma N.

July 22, 2022

Many companies experience sudden declines in stock prices. The market may react to bad news, such as a loss in revenue or profits, or it could be due to investor sentiment toward the company. If you are an investor and see that your stock has fallen too far, you might wonder if it can go any lower or if its price will bounce back up again. Investors who believe a stock has bottomed out will hold onto their shares because they believe the price will increase again soon. However, this may not always be true; sometimes, prices bottom out and never return to their previous levels. Let’s take a look at what bottomed-out means.

What Does It Mean When a Stock is "bottomed out"?

When a stock is "bottomed out," it means that the price of the stock has reached a low point and is expected to increase. The opposite of bottoming out would be called topping off or peaking.

Stock prices often decrease due to external factors such as market forces, economic conditions, industry trends, and investor sentiment. When these factors change in favor of an improved outlook for a company's prospects for future profitability (or vice versa), you may hear someone say that their stock has bottomed out or peaked.

Historical Trends that Indicate A Stock has Bottomed Out

In the past, it has been common knowledge that when a stock is bottoming out, it will experience a sharp rise. That's because stocks that have been in decline for a long time tend to have sharp rises and drops.

For example, during the Great Depression of 1929-1933 (a period known as "Black Tuesday"), stocks experienced an 80% decline over three years before bottoming out at $15 per share by 1933. Similarly, during the dot-com bubble (in which many companies lost trillions of dollars), Microsoft saw its stock price drop from $70 per share in 1999 to just under $4 by 2003—a 95% drop in value over four years!

When do Investors Say a Stock has Bottomed Out?

Understanding the context in which an investor might use this phrase is essential. When people say a stock has bottomed out, they are implying that it has reached its lowest point and is now starting to increase again. Investors may use this phrase when:

  • The stock's price has fallen 50% or more from its peak value. This is called breaking even or breaking even concerning your investment (you've recouped your losses). In other words, if you bought $10,000 worth of shares and sold them for $5,000—a 50% drop—you could say that you've "broken even."
  • A company's profits have decreased sharply during a recessionary period but remain relatively stable compared with other companies in its sector during the same time frame.

Can "Bottomed Out" Signal Investor Confidence?

Yes, bottomed out signals investor confidence. A bottoming out can be the first sign of an impending rebound or rally. This is because bottoming out indicates that stock prices have reached their lowest point and are due to rebound soon.

When you see a stock that has been falling rapidly for several days or weeks, you may think that it's best to stay away from it and wait for prices to recover on their own before buying in again. However, if you believe strongly in your investment thesis and think that the fundamentals are still sound after all this time, then buying at this point could be very profitable for you over the long run!

Investors who buy into stocks when they're down may often find themselves ahead of the game when things go back up again with no additional risk involved (because all those losses were taken care of).

Bottomed Out Signals a Trend Reversal

A bottomed-out signal can signal a trend reversal or investor confidence in a stock. When the price of a stock is at or near its lowest point, it could be that investors are losing confidence in the company, or that there's a lack of confidence in the market.

A bottomed-out signal could also indicate that investors are confident about their investment and want to buy more shares. It may also mean that they're selling off shares for profit to buy another stock with better growth potential (such as Google back when it was just starting up).

Conclusion

Bottomed out is a phrase used in the financial world to describe a market that has reached its lowest point. When a stock or other investment arrives at this level, it means that the price has reached its lowest point and may continue to rise again.

What Stock Have Bottomed Out?

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