What: Shares of online job search company Monster Worldwide (MWW) sank 15% this morning after its quarterly results and outlook disappointed Wall Street.
So what: Monster shares have risen nicely over the past year on strong margin expansion, but today's Q3 revenue miss -- $167.1 million versus the average analyst estimate of $179.59 million -- coupled with downbeat guidance is forcing investors to quickly recalibrate their valuation estimates. So while earnings for the quarter spiked 170% over the year-ago period, weaker-than-expected demand in North America suggests that the employment tailwinds working in Monster's favor are starting to slow a bit.
Now what: Management now expects Q4 EPS of $0.10-$0.14, versus the consensus estimate of $0.13. "We are extremely confident of Monster's ability to drive increased revenue and improving EBITDA margins going forward," said CEO Tim Yates. "As a sign of this confidence and our improved liquidity position as a result of the monetization of JobKorea, we are pleased to announce that our Board has authorized a $75 million buyback which we anticipate implementing as we generate free cash flow in the quarters ahead, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2015." More importantly, with the stock now off more than 20% from its 52-week highs and trading at a single-digit forward P/E, now might be an opportune time to buy into that bullishness.
