Why Bruker 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 Bruker (NASDAQ: BRKR  )  -- a manufacturer of life science instrumentation and health-care-related research systems -- jumped as much as 12% after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

So what: For the quarter, Bruker reported an 8.9% rise in revenue to $517.3 million, with organic growth clocking in at 10.2%, and an adjusted profit of $0.28, which was lower than last year's $0.30-per-share profit. However, both figures trumped Wall Street's expectations, which had called for just $483.7 million in revenue and $0.24 in EPS. Looking ahead, Bruker anticipates sales growth in 2013 of 4%-5% and adjusted EPS growth of 6%-10%. These figures translate into an in-line EPS forecast, and a midpoint on revenue about $20 million higher than the current consensus.

Now what: This was another solid quarter from Bruker, which is showing the world that organic growth is possible in a weak spending environment. However, the company's own admission that European and U.S. markets challenged its results in the fourth quarter is enough to make me think twice about paying 20 times forward earnings for this company. This seems like the perfect opportunity to add Bruker to your watchlist and wait for a pullback rather than chasing it higher.

Craving more input? Start by adding Bruker to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

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