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 glass-bottle maker Owens-Illinois (NYSE: OI) bubbled higher by as much as 12% earlier today after the company provided an update to its first-quarter earnings results, which are expected to be reported later this month.

So what: Owens-Illinois in a statement this morning said it expects earnings from continued operations to be at least 35% higher than in the year-ago period. Based on the $0.47 the company earned in Q1 2011, this translates into EPS of $0.63-$0.64 versus Wall Street's current consensus estimate of $0.50. The company cited good manufacturing performance, which includes higher prices and lower expenses, as the reason for the guidance boost.

Now what: Today's move is nice considering Owens-Illinois is not a very volatile company, but I still would like to see the company address stagnant growth issues. Cutting expenses usually helps the bottom line for a few quarters, but it's not a long-term strategy. The company offers no dividend and is heavily levered with $4 billion in debt; I'd consider leaving the cap on this bottle.

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