What: Shares of building materials company Martin Marietta Materials (MLM 1.33%) were up 11.1% at 2:55 p.m. ET on Tuesday after its full-year outlook impressed Wall Street.
So what: Martin Marietta shares have slumped in recent months on concerns over its exposure to a slowing economy, but positive full-year guidance suggests that those worries are a tad overblown. So while the company's Q4 results actually missed expectations -- adjusted EPS of $1.15 fell short of the consensus by $0.22 on a revenue decline of 1.4% -- better-than-expected aggregates volume and cement guidance for 2016 is forcing analysts to quickly recalibrate their growth estimates going forward.
Now what: Management now expects full-year 2016 EBITDA of $930 million-$980 million on revenue of $3.5 billion-$3.7 billion. "Our outlook for 2016 reflects growing underlying demand and strong pricing across our entire geographic footprint," said Chairman, President, and CEO Ward Nye. "We are well positioned, through our leading market positions and strong foundation, to capitalize on these opportunities and enhance long-term shareholder value." With the stock now up more than 20% from its 52-week lows and trading at a forward P/E of about 20, however, I'd wait for a bit of the excitement to fade before buying into that bullishness.
