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 Daktronics (DAKT 1.64%) popped 10% today after the electronic scoreboard specialist's quarterly results and outlook impressed Wall Street.
So what: The stock has surged in recent months on optimism over accelerating growth, and today's second-quarter results -- earnings per share of $0.27 beat the consensus by $0.06 on a revenue increase of 8% -- coupled with an upbeat outlook only reinforce those good vibes. In fact, order bookings during the quarter grew 15% from the year-ago period, giving analysts some decent visibility into upcoming quarters.
Now what: Management sees modest sales growth in 2014 and improved financial performance in the second half of the year. "[W]e continue to select and work on initiatives across the company to increase gross profit margins and control operating expenses," said CEO Reece Kurtenbach in a press release. "Our product development team continues to focus on developing additional outdoor surface mount technology, software platforms, and upgrading our architectural lighting and media mesh product platforms." Of course, with the stock surging to another 52-week high today and trading at a forward P/E above 20, I'd wait for a wider margin of safety before buying into that bullishness.
