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 hotel owner Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE: SHO) were heading to the penthouse today, as investors bid up shares as much as 11% after the company reported third-quarter results.

So what: Why are investors so excited about Sunstone's results today? For starters, the REIT's adjusted funds from operations of $0.20 were up 33% from last year and topped the $0.19 that Wall Street had been expecting. Revenue likewise topped estimates as it climbed 39% from 2010.

Other key metrics for the company also looked solid, with comparable hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) up 8.6%, while the company's EBITDA margin expanded by 150 basis points.

Now what: It hasn't exactly been a smooth ride for the economy, and that's obviously a concern for a hotel owner like Sunstone. So it's good news for investors that management appears to be shrewdly operating the company to continue to produce solid results in a tough environment.

Looking at the year as a whole, management increased the midpoint of its expectations ever so slightly by tightening the range of adjusted FFO to a range of $0.79 to $0.84.

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