Why Bally Technologies Shares Popped (BYI)

Why Bally Technologies Shares Popped

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 slot-machine maker Bally Technologies (NYSE: BYI ) climbed as high as 10% today after its quarterly results and guidance topped Wall Street expectations.

So what: Bally shares have rallied nicely over the past year on improved profits, and today's small fourth-quarter beat -- adjusted EPS of $0.78 versus the consensus of $0.77 -- coupled with upbeat guidance for 2013, is forcing analysts to raise their price targets yet again. Robust demand at its gaming equipment segment -- revenues spiked 33% to $97 million -- is driving the strong results, suggesting that recent concerns over decreased casino spending are a tad overblown.

Now what: For the full year 2013, management now sees EPS of $2.95-$3.30 versus the average analyst estimate of $3.11. "Our fourth quarter and fiscal 2012 results validate our leadership position in gaming technology innovation," said CEO Richard Haddrill. "This innovation leadership and visibility into further growth opportunities for all of our businesses for fiscal 2013 and beyond is tremendously encouraging." Of course, when you couple Bally's still-hefty debt load with the stock's strong momentum, I'd be a little cautious about buying into that bullishness.

Interested in more info on Bally? Add it to your watchlist.

Jeff Fischer and team have demystified options. And they can rack up income like $1,030... $2,626... and $3,228 on a schedule you can set your watch by!
That's why we're glad to announce every single one of their closely guarded strategies is available to YOU during May and June – 100% FREE, no strings attached! Just enter your email address in the box below...

Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. 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 Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

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.