Delek Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know (DK)

Delek Shares Plunged: 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 refiner Delek (NYSE: DK ) fell as much as 10% in early trading after the company said it would miss earnings expectations.

So what: After the market closed yesterday, the company said it expected to report a loss of $0.10 to $0.20 per share from continuing operations in the fourth quarter. Analysts had expected earnings of $0.59 per share, so the results will likely be very disappointing when they're released on March 7.

Now what: A seasonal decline in asphalt prices as well as high oil prices were the major contributors to the loss. I don't see oil falling anytime soon, so the pressure could continue well into the future. I'm not seeing any buy signals today, but keep an eye on asphalt prices, which could drive better results in the future.

Interested in more info on Delek? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

The Steve Jobs Betrayal
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

Enter your email address below to find out what made Jobs so enraged!

Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On January 27, 2012, at 8:17 PM, TruffelPig wrote:

This analysis completely omits to discuss the decreasing spread between WTI crude and Brent crude. This spread made it very profitable for many refiners including DK (also Tesoro etc.) and is now decreasing.