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 electronic sensors and controls manufacturer Sensata Technologies (ST 0.30%) sank as low as 10% today after the company issued guidance that disappointed Wall Street.
So what: Sensata's fourth-quarter results were in line with estimates -- EPS of $0.47 on revenue of $445.4 million -- but downbeat guidance for the current quarter and 2013 triggers concerns over slowing growth going forward. Of course, the stock has surged over the past few months on optimism over rebounding demand, so a small hiccup shouldn't come as too big of a surprise.
Now what: Management now sees full-year 2013 EPS of $2.00-$2.20 on revenue of $1.93 billion-$2.03 billion, versus the consensus of $2.27 and $2.0 billion, respectively. "While our top line growth opportunities will continue to be challenged by near-term economic weakness in 2013, our disciplined focus on margin improvement will result in higher earnings growth," CEO Martha Sullivan said in a statement. "We remain confident our long-term growth drivers are still intact." With the stock now off its 52-week high and trading at a reasonable forward P/E of 15, buying into that confidence might not be a bad idea.
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