Cytec Industries Shares Jumped: What You Need to Know (CYT)

Cytec Industries Shares Jumped: 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 specialty chemical maker Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT ) jumped as much as 18% today after the company posted earnings.

So what: Fourth-quarter earnings fell from $0.95 per share a year ago to $0.86 per share in the quarter. Revenue rose slightly to $731 million.

Who cares that earnings are falling when they crush the expectations Wall Street has set? Revenue fell just short of expectations, but analysts expected just $0.47 in earnings per share, so investors are cheering the better-than-expected results.

Now what: Earnings are still down and revenue is flat so I'm not seeing a big "buy" sign on shares today. The company did announce it had hired JP Morgan to help separate its coating resin business, which accounts for just under half of the entire company's sales. Shares aren't a terrible value at 13 times earnings, I just don't see falling earnings in an improving economy as a great reason to buy a stock.

Interested in more info on Cytec Industries? 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.

The Motley Fool owns shares of JPMorgan Chase. 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.