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 BancorpSouth (NYSE: BXS) surged 12% higher in trading today after the company released earnings.

So what: Earnings swung from a $12.6 million loss a year ago to a $12.8 million, or $0.15 per share, profit in the second quarter. A credit loss provision reduction from $62.4 million a year ago to $32.2 million this quarter was largely responsible for the improvement.

Now what: Analysts were only expecting a $0.04 profit per share, so this was obviously a big upside surprise. With that said, the company is still in turnaround phase and just starting to return to profitable operations. There are better values in the banking sector, like Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), that I would consider before jumping into BancorpSouth.

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