What happened
Shares of tanker company Scorpio Tankers (NYSE: STNG) jumped as much as 10.8% in trading today as oil prices rose. Shares gave back some gains late in the day, but were still up 6.3% at 3:45 p.m. EST on Wednesday.
So what
The first news item impacting Scorpio Tankers was the rise in oil prices today. A barrel of West Texas intermediate crude rose 2.6% to $46.57, according to Bloomberg, and Brent crude was up 2.3% to $55.03 per barrel. After a drop in oil prices to end the year, this was a welcome recovery for investors.
Image source: Getty Images.
Today is also the first full trading day after the holidays, which can bring some calm to the market. The holidays can often bring unusual volatility, as some traders leave for extended time off -- and late in 2018 was unusually volatile indeed.
Now what
I don't think today's moves in Scorpio Tankers' stock or oil prices are fundamental reasons to change your investment thesis. Energy markets are volatile, and this is just a natural swing that investors need to get used to.
What's more concerning is that Scorpio Tankers has lost $214 million over the past year with high oil prices, and if the past quarter's decline in oil hurts demand, the company will feel it on the bottom line. That's why I'm not a buyer of this stock today, and even higher oil prices won't change the company's fundamentals overnight.
Check out the latest Scorpio Tankers earnings call transcript.
