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 laser specialist IPG Photonics (Nasdaq: IPGP) were shooting higher today, gaining as much as 13% in intraday trading after the company reported fourth-quarter results. IPG's big day may also be behind the gains for fellow laser makers Newport (Nasdaq: NEWP) and Coherent (Nasdaq: COHR).

So what: IPG's earnings per share made a huge year-over-year jump from $0.07 to $0.56, topping the $0.53 that Wall Street analysts were looking for. The profit gains were driven by an 86% year-over-year increase in sales and a gross margin that expanded from 36.7% to 55%. China was a key piece to the growth puzzle during the quarter; sales there leapt 256% from last year.

Now what: Management's guidance didn't disappoint, either. The company is estimating first-quarter earnings per share in a range of $0.37 to $0.44 on sales of $89 million to $95 million. That compares very favorably with the $0.37 in EPS and $87 million in sales analysts had estimated. But to see IPG beating targets is no surprise to my fellow Fool Eric Jhonsa -- when the company preannounced fourth-quarter results this month, Eric said that even with the strong run-up in shares, IPG could "deliver more positive surprises to Wall Street over the course of the year." It looks like the company is getting a fast start on that prediction.

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