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 Universal Forest Products
So what: Net sales fell 1.5% to $387.2 million, far below analysts' estimates of $422 million. The company also reported a net loss of $3.7 million, or $0.19 per share, below estimates of a profit of $0.01.
Now what: The company still isn't supplying guidance, which tells me it really has no clue how the housing market will perform in the next year. With results so much worse than expected, analysts should be scrambling to lower projections, which will make the seemingly attractive current forward P/E ratio of 16 irrelevant. I don't see any buy signals today, so I'm going to sit this one out and wait for some more solid signs that business is turning around.
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