Why Cincinnati Bell's 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 Ohio telecom Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB  ) were ringing up big gains today, dialing up as much as 14% in intraday trading after a pair of big announcements.

So what: Though it's still earnings season, Cincinnati Bell's earnings weren't the big news today. In fact, its earnings report didn't look all that great. Revenue for the quarter was a bit lighter than expected, as the $368 million that the telecom provider reported fell short of the $370 million that analysts were looking for. On the bottom line, as-reported earnings per share came in at just $0.01, but that low tally was driven by a $13 million asset-impairment charge during the quarter. Backing out that non-cash charge, the company earned $0.05 per share, but that still fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.06.

Now what: So why are investors so charged up today? Cincinnati Bell also announced that it's going to conduct an initial public offering for its data-center subsidiary CyrusOne. The spinoff will also see CyrusOne organized as a real estate investment trust, a structure that many investors like because it provides tax advantages for the company and requires that it pay out 90% of profits to investors. For Cincinnati Bell, the move will help it pay down debt as it sells new shares of CyrusOne in the market, and it will also help it realize the value of a valuable subsidiary that the market may have overlooked.

Want to keep up to date on Cincinnati Bell? Add it to your Watchlist.