Why Exponent’s Shares Dropped

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 technical consultant Exponent (NASDAQ: EXPO  ) fell as much as 13% today, after the company released earnings.

So what: Revenue rose 7%, to $65.0 million, and net income increased 10%, to $8.5 million, or $0.60 per share. But analysts expected $0.63 per share and, after beating expectations by a pretty wide margin in the previous three quarters, the earnings miss was pretty disappointing.  

Now what: This is really just a pullback from a high valuation and overinflated expectations. The company is still growing both top and bottom line results, so there's nothing investors should be panic about. I'd like to get a better value than 19 times trailing earnings considering the single-digit growth rate, so if shares fall further, there could be a nice entry point for investors.

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