Piper Jaffray Shares Popped: What You Need to Know (PJC)

Piper Jaffray Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

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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 investment bank Piper Jaffray (NYSE: PJC ) jumped 14% today after the company released earnings.

So what: Earnings per share actually fell to $0.49 from $0.63 a year ago, but if we exclude a one-time charge, they would have been $0.97. Piper Jaffray benefited from its strategy of trading bonds quickly instead of holding an inventory like many other bond-trading banks do.

Now what: Analysts' estimates of $0.48 per share, excluding one-time charges, proved to be an easy bar for Piper to hurdle this quarter. But strong trading revenue isn't something investors should count on every quarter, so I'm a little cautious of today's move. I would like to see a pullback after the excitement of earnings dies down before jumping in and buying shares.

Interested in more info on Piper Jaffray? Add it to your watchlist.

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Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.

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