Consolidated Graphics Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know (CGX, CVO, VPRT)

Consolidated Graphics 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 commercial print-service specialist Consolidated Graphics (NYSE: CGX ) ran out of ink on Wednesday, falling as far as 21.8% on more than four times their average daily trading volume.

So what: In the just-reported first quarter, sales increased by 2.8% year over year to $243 million and adjusted earnings climbed 13% to $0.43 per share -- in both cases far below analyst estimates. Next-quarter guidance was also timid as management outlined mild year-over-year gains on both the top and bottom lines.

Now what: Industry peers R.R. Donnelley & Sons (NYSE: RRD ) and Quad/Graphics (Nasdaq: QUAD ) also saw steep declines on Wednesday while fourth Musketeer Cenveo (NYSE: CVO ) held up a bit better. It bears mentioning that R.R also missed Street targets today while the other two report earnings next week. Meanwhile, Vistaprint (Nasdaq: VPRT ) jumped more than 6% today, making up some lost ground from its own terrible-earnings plunge last week. In short, print services is a deeply troubled industry at the moment, fit for investments only by real risk-chasers and bottom-fishers.

Interested in more info on Consolidated Graphics? Add it to your watchlist.

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