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 transport company TAL International Group (NYSE: TAL) fell as much as 10.6% today after reporting second-quarter earnings.
So what: Quarterly leasing revenue was up 3.2% to $144.7 million but net income was down 22% to $29.4 million, or $0.87 per share. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $0.95 per share but Wall Street analysts were expecting $164 million in revenue and earnings of $0.96 per share.
To make matters worse for shares, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock from neutral to underperform and gave it a $45 price target.
Now what: Results may not have hit expectations, but they weren't far off, and shares are trading at just 10.6 times forward earnings estimates. That's not a bad price in a fairly stable business like transport that's seeing a slow uptick in demand. I wouldn't be a panic seller today, even if the market and analysts aren't a fan of the stock.
