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 specialty materials maker Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI 0.24%) jumped as much as 13% today after reporting earnings.
So what: First quarter sales jumped 7% sequentially to $1.13 billion and net income swung from a loss a year ago to a $10.0 million profit, or $0.09 per share. Earnings fell a penny below expectations but revenue topped Wall Street's estimate of $1.08 billion. And in a market where revenue growth is hard to find that had investors excited today.
Now what: Improvement in the aerospace market helped drive the strong results, with sales up 14% sequentially in that segment. Management expects that growth to continue and move into precision forgings, casting, and components as next generation jet engines are built. There's still a lot of optimism priced in at 27 times 2015 earnings estimates but Allegheny Technologies appears to have turned the corner financially and has some tailwinds when it comes to a growing commercial aviation market in coming years.
