Why Is This Little Stock Soaring Today?

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Let's solve a riddle together, dear Fool.

TTM Technologies (Nasdaq: TTMI) is up nearly 15% today. It's one of the biggest gains of the day, behind the 24% buyout premium enjoyed by IMS Health (NYSE: RX), the 15% gain fueled by estimate-stomping results from Lamar Advertising (Nasdaq: LAMR), and a 14% jump after Blue Coat Systems (Nasdaq: BCSI) announced an acquisition and a new long-term strategy that should drive more revenue growth and profitability.

All valid reasons for a hefty stock price gain. But TTM had none of the above.

The circuit board manufacturer, named for its ability to churn out products on a short “Time to Market” timeline, reported satisfactory third-quarter results but no earth-shattering greatness. Sales came in at $139 million, 3.7% below the previous quarter. Backing out one-time charges mostly related to closing a couple of underperforming factories, TTM saw a net profit of $0.13 per share, down from pro forma earnings of $0.19 per share a quarter ago.

These results for this longtime Stock Advisor recommendation were in line with management guidance, and Wall Street analysts were expecting to see another couple of pennies on the bottom line. Guidance for the next quarter was in line to slightly higher than the average analyst had expected. But you can't argue with the market: That 14% jump comes from somewhere.

It's not the lukewarm results TTM reported. It can't be the optimistic but expected guidance, either. And if there's a sector effect today, TTM is more likely causing than riding it: None of the company's traditional rivals, such as Flextronics (Nasdaq: FLEX), have announced anything big the last few days, but they're all riding TTM's coattails to more modest gains.

The only conclusion left in the hat is management comments. And there, CEO Kent Alder delivered. "We are encouraged by the improvement in demand we are experiencing in our PCB [printed circuit board] business," he said, pointing to especially strong orders from commercial customers. That means a little less defense action from the likes of Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) but more business from less government-beholden customers like Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO). And that shift in TTM's order mix is just in time for the holidays.

This still sounds more like a condition that's more specific to TTM than sector-wide, but Mr. Market took it a different way.

TTM is small, pretty obscure unless you're into circuit-board geekery, and certainly underfollowed. That makes it a perfect candidate for mispricing and misunderstandings. You missed that 14% bounce if you're buying today, not to mention an 84% one-year gain. But with a lot of restructuring moves in the rearview mirror, I think the best is still to come for TTM. Or maybe something hidden could be in play here. Rumors of buyouts can also push small stocks like TTM higher in a hurry.

We need some fresh discussion on this lamentably ignored stock. Please share your thoughts on the quarter, or on TTM in general, in the stock's CAPS comments. That way, we'll know where to find your input the next time we need it.