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 Acxiom (RAMP -2.50%) are up big today, gaining as much as 16% before settling into a gain of about 12%, after beating analyst expectations for its fiscal second quarter on both top and bottom lines.
So what: Acxiom's revenue, despite dropping 3% from the year-ago quarter, to $277.5 million, still trounced the consensus of $269.4 million. Bottom-line results of $0.21 per share also significantly outperformed the analyst consensus of $0.15. Acxiom, which has a really difficult name to type correctly, also boosted its full-year profit guidance to $0.65 per share, and announced that it had repurchased 800,000 shares at a cost of $14 million during the quarter
Acxiom CEO Scott Howe singled out major clients United Continental (UAL -2.52%) and Macy's (M -1.52%) in the earnings report as evidence of the company's successful marketing initiatives. Both companies, he said, earned Marketer of the Year honors from the Direct Marketing Association.
Now what: Beating expectations is always a good sign, but now may not be the time to jump on the bandwagon. Acxiom's full-year EPS guidance comes in significantly lower than its trailing 12-month results, which don't yet include the latest report. Additionally, revenue and free cash flow have been flat or declining over the last few years, and with Howe warning that Acxiom "has much to do, particularly as it relates to our top-line growth," this may be a good time to profit from the near 50% gain shares have posted over the past 52 weeks.
Want more news and updates? Add Acxiom to your Watchlist now.
