Why Roper Industries' Shares Jumped

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 equipment maker Roper Industries (NYSE: ROP  ) jumped 10% this morning, only to see shares fall close to break even on a number of news items.

So what: First on the list is second-quarter earnings, where Roper said that revenue rose 4% to $725 million and an 8% rise in earnings to $115 million, or $1.15 per share. Revenue was a little light, but earnings were in line with expectations.

What had investors really enamored today was the announcement of a $1.4 billion cash purchase of Sunquest Information Systems, a medical and scientific software developer.

Now what: Management said the deal would be accretive and expects it to add $140 million in EBITDA in 2013. That's a big multiple to pay in the current economic environment, and it looks like investors curbed their enthusiasm later in the day.

The bottom line is that earnings were good but not great last quarter, and the acquisition announced today is fairly expensive. I'll pass on the bump and wait for enthusiasm to fade even more before jumping on this one.

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