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: Investors greeted FleetCor Technologies' (NYSE: FLT) second-quarter earnings beat with sensible optimism. Shares were up 10% in early trading after the trucking gas-card company posted $0.73 in EPS, well ahead of analysts' expectations of $0.65 per share, and also a marked improvement over the year-ago quarter's $0.57 in EPS. Guidance was raised so far that it left analysts in the dust, as the new full-year EPS range of $2.74-$2.78 is well ahead of the $2.58 in EPS the Street had expected.

So what: FleetCor got other good news in the past 24 hours as well. Investor's Business Daily added the stock to its IBD 50 top stocks list on Wednesday evening, presaging the company's big beat. Revenue guidance was boosted to the $665 million-$675 million range, a full $50 million ahead of the previous high and low ends of FleetCor's projections.

Now what: FleetCor's report has to be great news if you use the trucking industry as a barometer of American economic health. FleetCor also maintains U.K. and Mexican operations, and has recently moved into Brazil, so the overall strength of the company's business stands in stark contrast to the doomsaying investors have had to sit through for months. With that growing bottom line and a reasonable 21 P/E, FleetCor might now be at the start of a sustained growth period.

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