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 iRobot (IRBT -3.36%) soared 15% today after the robot specialist's quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations.
So what: The stock was hammered late last year on severe weakness in its defense segment, but strong first-quarter results -- EPS of $0.29 on a revenue increase of 8.4% -- coupled with upbeat guidance for the rest of the year naturally eases those concerns. While defense revenue remained unspectacular, the company's booming home robot business more than offset that softness, giving investors plenty of good vibes about its revenue mix going forward.
Now what: Management now sees full-year EPS of $0.80 to $1.00 on revenue of $485 million to $495 million, up nicely from its prior view of $0.57 to $0.72 and $480 million to $490 million. "The revenue increase is being driven by better than anticipated Home Robot demand in the United States," said Chairman and CEO Colin Angle. "Improvements in gross margin due to favorable product mix, successful integration of Evolution Robotics (ER) and tighter operating expense control will each contribute to increased profitability and enable us to deliver on our commitment to profitable growth." With the stock hitting a new 52-week high today and trading at a 30-plus forward P/E, however, much of that bullishness might already be baked into the price.
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