Why Informatica Shares Got Walloped

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 software maker Informatica (Nasdaq: INFA  ) plummeted 28% today after its preliminary third quarter results came in well below Wall Street expectations.

So what: Informatica shares have been crushed over the past few months on concerns over its susceptibility to Europe's woes, and today's alarming third-quarter warning naturally reinforces those fears. In fact, software stocks with similar exposure are also falling on the bleak outlook, with the likes of Qlik Technologies (Nasdaq: QLIK  ) and Teradata down 10% and 3%, respectively.

Now what: Management now sees third-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.25-$0.27 on revenue of $189 million to $191 million, well below the average analyst estimate of $0.34 and $200.8 million, respectively. "The disappointing European results reflect continued operational challenges that we are taking aggressive steps to address," said Chairman and CEO Sohaib Abbasi. "Under our new worldwide sales leader, we remain focused on implementing the changes necessary to pursue our market opportunity." With the stock plummeting to a new 52-week low today, and trading at a forward P/E of 15, betting on that turnaround talk might not be a bad idea.

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