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 thesis.
What: Shares of Monster Worldwide (MWW) were stepping it up a notch today, gaining as much as 27%, and finishing up 23% after a strong earnings report.
So what: The online job board hit its highest point in more than a year, posting an $0.11 per-share profit on expectations of just $0.06, while revenue fell 6%, to $199 million, though that also beat the consensus of $195.3 million. Sales were also up sequentially from $197 million in the third quarter, showing positive momentum. CEO Sal Ianuzzi said he was encouraged by the sequential improvement, saying sales improved in both North America and Europe, and that the company repurchased $46 million worth of shares during the quarter, more than 6%, of shares outstanding, showing its commitment to investors.
Now what: Guidance was also pleasing to investors as Monster sees EPS of $0.06 to $0.10 during the current quarter, while analysts project just $0.06. The company also expects to buy back another $9 million in shares. While year-over-year sales may be declining, the sequential offers hope that the business may be stabilizing, even as newcomer Linkedin seems to have a disrupted the job-searching industry. The continuing buybacks also indicate that any profit growth will be magnified in the future.
