As Warren Buffett says, when others are fearful it’s the time for an investor to be grasping. Worry has been stalking the markets up to now few days and plenty of main FTSE 100 shares have been on the sharp finish of a wave of promoting.

One well-known FTSE 100 share has seen its price collapse 39% over the previous 12 months alone.

It’s a share I’ve held for some time already. However final week I took the chance of a tumbling price to purchase some extra – and this week, because the price headed even decrease, I did the identical once more.

Preserving a rational head in turbulent markets

That form of behaviour will be wealth-building, nevertheless it will also be dangerous. Whereas inventory market turbulence pushing down a share price can result in a bargain-hunting alternative, it may also be reflecting some easy financial realities. Perhaps the motive force for a inventory market correction has additionally lowered the long-term worth of a enterprise, one thing that’s then mirrored in its share price.

Throughout market turbulence, there won’t be time to do detailed research. So I feel a sensible investor is at all times ready prematurely, able to pounce once they see a shopping for alternative which may be short-lived.

Defying the broader market

The precise share in query, by the way in which, is JD Sports activities (LSE: JD). As the broader FTSE 100 tumbled final Wednesday (9 April), it defied the gloom and moved up sharply following a buying and selling replace.

That got here after some sharp falls within the weeks earlier than – and that was after I made my purchases.

At face worth, the buying and selling replace won’t appear nice. The sportswear retailer mentioned it was too early to offer clear steerage on what US tariffs might imply for its enterprise. It reported that final 12 months’s efficiency got here in step with expectations and that the present 12 months’s outlook is for a decline in like-for-like revenues.

Why was the market excited, then? Following a number of revenue warnings and downgraded expectations, JD merely delivering in step with revised expectations for final 12 months. And that was a aid.

Wanting forward, whereas like-for-like gross sales might decline, the FTSE 100 agency nonetheless expects important income progress (round 14%), due to prior acquisitions and an expanded retailer footprint.

In the meantime, JD plans to cut back its future retailer property enlargement exercise. That ought to imply decrease capital expenditures, so hopefully the next proportion of working earnings will feed into the post-tax revenue.

High quality firm at a knockdown price

Regardless of that, JD Sports activities has a market capitalisation of lower than £4bn. The retailer ended its most up-to-date monetary 12 months with internet money, earlier than lease liabilities. It expects 2026 revenue earlier than tax and adjusting objects to be in step with consensus estimates, of £920m.

That price-to-earnings ratio appears to be like very low to me for a solidly worthwhile FTSE 100 firm with robust progress prospects.

Sure, tariffs are a danger given JD’s giant US footprint. A weak economic system may harm client confidence, damaging gross sales and earnings. However as a long-term investor I’m trying past the short-term financial outlook.

I reckon JD Sports activities is a FTSE 100 cut price hiding in plain sight and have been constructing up my shareholding due to that.