Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of semiconductor specialist Mindspeed Technologies (Nasdaq: MSPD) lost more than a quarter of their value in intraday trading as investors reacted to the company's fiscal fourth quarter earnings report.

So What: You'd never know it based on the stock's action today, but results for Mindspeed's fourth quarter were actually better than expected. Total revenue was $58 million versus an expectation of $53 million and per-share profit was $0.46, well ahead of the $0.31 expectation.

Now What: It was the outlook for the upcoming quarter that slaughtered shares today. Management sees ongoing revenue -- that is, excluding patent sales -- dropping 8% to 10% while gross margins contract. Patent sales are also expected to be significantly lower during the quarter, so on the whole investors will see a pretty hefty profit drop-off. After this report, Mindspeed looks to have its work cut out winning back investors.

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