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 Pinnacle Financial (PNFP -1.72%) climbed 10% today after the regional bank's quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations.
So what: The stock has rallied over the past year on improving fundamentals, and today's first-quarter beat -- EPS of $0.39 versus the consensus of $0.33 -- only reinforces that momentum. In fact, Pinnacle saw continued loan growth and net interest margin while asset quality improved for the 12th straight quarter, giving investors plenty of confidence in management's ability to grow safely going forward.
Now what: Don't let today's pop prevent you from looking into the stock. "For many financial metrics, including pre-tax net income and return on average assets (ROAA), we are now operating at higher levels than ever before in the history of the firm," CEO M. Terry Turner said. "These results demonstrate significant core earnings growth and further validate our potential to reach our long-term profitability targets." More important, with Pinnacle still trading at a discount to many of its close peers, there might be some room left to buy into that bullishness.
Interested in more info Pinnacle? Add it to your watchlist.
