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 H&E Equipment Services (HEES -0.15%) jumped 15% today after the equipment rental company reported earnings.
So what: Third-quarter revenue jumped 32% to $270.4 million and net income nearly quadrupled to $14.0 million, or $0.40 per share. Analysts were only expecting $244.1 million in revenue and $0.35 per share in earnings, so the results shocked most investors.
Now what: Rental revenue was up 14.9% on a 5.2% increase in prices but the big growth was in equipment sales. New equipment sales were up 84.1% and used equipment sales up 47.2%, part of a renewed buying cycle in the construction industry. Operationally, the company is hitting on all cylinders. I'm just concerned that at 18 times next year's estimates it won't be able to keep up this growth in sales. That's why I'll sit out the pop today.
