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 networking technology company Brocade Communications (BRCD) soared 15% today after its quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations.
So what: The stock has rebounded sharply in recent months on signs of recovering storage demand, and today's Q3 beat -- EPS of $0.19 on revenue of $536.6 million versus the consensus of $0.15 and $519 million -- coupled with upbeat guidance only reinforces that optimism. Additionally, operating margins during the quarter increased 210 basis points to 21.6% year over year, suggesting that management is also making solid progress in its cost-reduction goals.
Now what: Management now sees fourth-quarter EPS of $0.17-$0.19 on revenue of $545 million-$565 million, compared with Wall Street's view of $0.15 and $549 million. "We are seeing a rebound occurring in the broader storage market and believe that the recovery will strengthen for the remainder of this calendar year," CEO Lloyd Carney said in a statement. With the stock now up more than 50% from its 52-week lows and trading at a 25-plus P/E, however, much of that turnaround talk might already be baked into the price.
