China Digital TV Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

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 Chinese digital TV smart-card maker China Digital TV (NYSE: STV  ) were hopping today, gaining as much as 12% on heavier-than-average volume.

So what: Today's gain follows a big drop earlier in the week after the company reported less-than-hoped-for first-quarter results. So how do you remedy that post-earnings pessimism? Giving investors cash seems to be working just fine. Today, the company announced a special cash dividend of $0.56 per share. In its statement, management basically said, "We've got so much cash that we can support business growth and hand it out to investors without a problem." Sounds good to me.

Now what: While the announcement is a shareholder-friendly one, it's not one that alters the company's intrinsic value. In fact, as would be expected, the company's value will actually fall after the dividend is paid. That said, many investors are drawn to big special dividends like moths to a candle, so this could continue to bring some investors to the stock between now and the June 20 record date.

Want to keep up to date on China Digital TV? Add it to your watchlist.