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 workplace furnishing manufacturer Knoll (NYSE: KNL) were dancing on their cherry-veneer desks today, rising as much as 16% in intraday trading after the company reported first-quarter results.

So what: Well, we certainly know where Knoll stands on its first-quarter earnings -- the title of its press release is "Knoll Starts 2011 With Strong First Quarter Results." To the company's credit, the results did look quite good when stacked against last year's first quarter. Total revenue was up 26% to $221 million, while adjusted earnings per share doubled to $0.20.

Now what: The big gain for the stock is pretty interesting considering the fact that the numbers just fell in line with Wall Street's estimates. Generally, big post-earnings-announcement surges are reserved for companies that top expectations. It makes me think that Jeff Macke may have been right that investors are still too pessimistic, and therefore can get excited about a company like Knoll simply not missing estimates. In any case, a hat tip to Knoll -- that's a fine-looking quarter.

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