Wabash National Shares Popped, Then Plunged: What You Need to Know (WNC)

Wabash National Shares Popped, Then Plunged: 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 transportation equipment specialist Wabash National (NYSE: WNC ) experienced a short-lived double-digit pop in intraday trading Wednesday after posting better-than-expected quarterly results.

So what: Driven largely by continued cost-cutting efforts, Wabash managed to post a fourth-quarter profit of $0.07 per share, while analysts, on average, were expecting just $0.01 per share. The stock flew 11% out of the gate this morning on those market-topping results, but, unfortunately for Wabash bulls, the stock has been retreating steadily ever since.

Now what: I wouldn't be so quick to pounce on Wabash at this point. While the shares are now basically flat on the day, they're still up about 30% over the past three months and trade at a lofty price-to-book of more than six. With net debt of about $34 million, Fools might do well to wait for a much larger margin of safety before buying into Wabash.

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

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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