Qiao Xing Universal Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know (QXM, XING)

Qiao Xing Universal Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

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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 Chinese metals miner Qiao Xing Universal Resources (Nasdaq: XING ) were slammed today, dropping as much as 12% in intraday trading as investors reacted to the company's third-quarter earnings.

So what: Investors were obviously hoping for more out of Qiao Xing Universal as shares had jumped almost 9% yesterday. Total sales fell 28% while operating income dipped into the red. Qiao Xing continues to struggle in its telecom segment -- which is comprised of its majority ownership of Qiao Xing Mobile Communications (NYSE: QXM ) -- and losses there easily offset the small profit in its mining business.

Now what: This is definitely a quirky little company, as it's focused on mining of molybdenum, copper, and other non-ferrous metals as well as selling mobile handsets through Qiao Xing Mobile, which it's trying to acquire in full. The obvious downside is that the results look pretty pitiful, particularly in the mobile-phone business. However, the stocks of both Qiao Xing Universal and Qiao Xing Mobile are trading at a pretty steep discount to book value. When the price is right, I'm a fan of calculated speculation, and I currently have Qiao Xing Mobile in my portfolio. A sure thing this is not, but the company's balance sheet makes it (or Qiao Xing Universal) a pretty interesting speculation.

Want to keep up to date on the Qiao Xing companies? Add Qiao Xing Universal to your watchlist. Or add Qiao Xing Mobile to your watchlist.

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Fool contributor Matt Koppenheffer owns shares of Qiao Xing Mobile Communications, but does not own shares of any of the other companies mentioned. You can check out what Matt is keeping an eye on by visiting his CAPS portfolio, or you can follow Matt on Twitter @KoppTheFool or on his RSS feed. The Fool's disclosure policy assures you no Wookiees were harmed in the making of this article.

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