DigitalGlobe Shares Dropped: What You Need to Know (DGI)

DigitalGlobe Shares Dropped: 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: For three days straight, we've been treated to a round-the-clock, televised geography lesson on the mountains and mansions of Abbottabad, Pakistan. You might think investors would love to own a piece of the companies whose surveillance pictures of the area helped make possible the discovery of Osama bin Laden. Instead, they're selling off one of these companies -- DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI ) -- in droves.

So what: Good PR doesn't trump bad profits, apparently, and DigitalGlobe's admission of a $0.02 per share loss last night has the shares trading down 11% and counting today. Adding insult to injury, management warned that it's going to earn less than anticipated this year -- $0.20 max, or about half of earlier estimates.

Now what: That's simply not good enough to justify the company's $1.2 billion market cap. While DigitalGlobe looked more expensive pre-earnings, at a trailing P/E of 285, its new and "improved" earnings guidance still has the company trading for a triple digit forward P/E. That's several times the P/E at archrival GeoEye (Nasdaq: GEOY ) -- and that's in the best case scenario for earnings.

Fact is, even viewed in the most favorable light, the company's stronger-than-meets-the-eye free cash flow number ($69 million, or about 17 times reported earnings) still has DigitalGlobe selling for more than its growth rate merits. Seems to me, investors selling the stock today have got it right.

Want more information on DigitalGlobe? Add it to your watchlist.

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GeoEye is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers selection, but Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of, nor is he short, any company named above. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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