Beacon Roofing Supply Shares Popped: What You Need to Know (BECN)

Beacon Roofing Supply Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

By Cindy Johnson | More Articles
February 9, 2011 | Comments (0)

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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 Beacon Roofing Supply (Nasdaq: BECN ) popped 13.9% in intraday trading today after the company reported quarterly earnings per share of $0.22, a 29% year-over-year increase that tromped the consensus estimate of $0.15.

So what: Revenue grew 10.1% from the year-ago quarter, helped by acquired revenue and organic improvement in commercial and complementary businesses. Earnings also got a nice boost from a 38% reduction in interest expense.

Now what: Positives include stronger demand in the nonresidential market, potential for earnings to continue getting a boost from lower interest expense, and a statement from the company that it is optimistic about the coming three quarters. On the downside, better demand merely reflected lousy demand last year, EBITDA grew only 2.5%, and operating margin deteriorated slightly despite the revenue growth. Earnings estimates are likely to go up but not enough to justify the 20.0 P/E ratio on earnings for the coming year (at a price of $20.96), providing a profit-taking opportunity for current stockholders.

Interested in more info on Beacon Roofing Supply? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

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Fool contributor Cindy Johnson does not own shares of any company named above. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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