Willbros Group Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know (WG)

Willbros Group Shares 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 engineering service provider Willbros Group (NYSE: WG ) fell as much as 17% this morning after the company released earnings.

So what: Revenue for the fourth quarter jumped an incredible 105.6% to $398.5 million -- but that didn't translate to success on the bottom line. Net loss for the quarter was $67.8 million or $1.44 per share, and even if you strip out non-cash impairments the loss was $0.80 per share.

Now what: Cost overruns and weather affected earnings this quarter despite some improvement in market conditions. Management was optimistic heading into 2011, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of certainty about project timing of projects in the short term. I am going to leave this dip alone and take a "wait and see" approach to Willbros Group.

Interested in more info on Willbros Group? 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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