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 construction distributor Trex Company, (TREX -0.66%) jumped as much as 27% today after the company reported earnings.
So what: Fourth-quarter revenue was up 38.1% from a year ago to $63.8 million, well ahead of the $50.5 million estimate from Wall Street. Earnings per share of $0.23 were also well ahead of the $0.06 estimate.
Now what: First-quarter guidance was lighter than expected, but management said that stocking in the fourth quarter pushed sales out of the first quarter and back into 2013. For the six-month-period ending in the first quarter of 2014, sales are expected to be up 16%. The growth trends and industry strength are driving operations in the right direction, but shares trading at 30 times earnings are just too expensive for me to be a buyer today.
