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 Flotek Industries Inc. (FTK -2.26%) fell 10.4% today after reporting disappointing preliminary first-quarter results.
So what: Ahead of the Independent Petroleum Association of America conference, the company gave a peek at what first-quarter results would look like. Revenue is expected to exceed $82 million and net loss is expected to be around $1.5 million, or $0.03 per share. That compares with analyst estimates of $103.3 million in revenue and $0.14 per share in earnings.
Now what: With volatile oil markets, it's difficult to predict how operations will play out this year, and the first quarter was worse than most investors expected. But keep in mind that the loss was just $1.5 million. Management is doing a good job keeping costs in check in what should be the weakest drilling market we see. I think today's dip actually provides a nice buying opportunity for investors betting on a recovery in oil, because operations should improve as the year goes on, and with shares trading at 16 times last year's earnings, investors are getting a good value when shares turn around.
