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: Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) popped 15% in intraday trading today after fourth-quarter EPS of $0.20 beat the consensus estimate of $0.17.

So what: Fourth-quarter results were at the high end of guidance. Sequentially, EPS grew 27%, helped by new products (revenue grew 5%) and a 140% increase in government financial incentives.

Now what: Management said growth is accelerating internationally (outside China) and it has built a solid foundation for 2011, but did not offer guidance. Compared to the year-ago quarter, revenue fell 14%, operating income fell 33%, and net income fell 12%.  Investors may want to wait for evidence the sequential improvement was more than normal seasonal strength and assess the sustainability of EPS-boosting government financial incentives.

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