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 HB Fuller Co (FUL -0.56%) dropped as much as 11% today after the company missed earnings expectations.
So what: Fourth-quarter revenue was up 4%, to $533.5 million, and income from continuing operations was $22.0 million, or $0.43 per share. Revenue was ahead of estimates, but adjusted earnings per share were $0.68, $0.06 short of what Wall Street expected.
Now what: Results were at the bottom end of the company's own projections, and 2014 guidance of $3.00 to $3.15 per share in earnings was at the bottom end of Wall Street's expectations. But let's put that into perspective because if management hits even the bottom end of its 2014 expectations, earnings would be up 16% over last year. That's solid growth and, with shares trading at 17 times that range, I think investors have overreacted a bit to last quarter's results.
