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 J2 Global (ZD 4.71%) are holding on to a 6% gain this afternoon after beginning the trading day with a 10% pop. Investors in the cloud services company had reason for cheer after J2 reported better than expected earnings last night and also guided its top and bottom lines above Wall Street's expectations for 2014.
So what: J2 reported $138 million in revenue (a 35% year-over-year gain) for its fourth quarter, which missed the analyst consensus of $139.6 million. However, adjusted earnings of $0.91 per share blew past the $0.77 consensus, allowing the company to boost its dividend by 13% to $0.2625 per share. J2 also issued guidance for 2014, which anticipates between $580 million and $600 million in revenue and between $3.23 and $3.48 in EPS. Both numbers trounced Wall Street's expectations -- analysts had modeled $548.2 million on the top line and just $2.96 in EPS.
Now what: The upper end of J2's revenue guidance represents a 15% upside over 2013's full-year result of $521 million, which is far less growth than the 40% improvement the company posted last year to its top line over 2012. However, the midpoint of J2's EPS guidance is a mere 4% higher than its adjusted full-year EPS of $3.24 for 2013. The company still boasts a pretty solid dividend yield of more than 2%, but with barely any profit growth ahead, it could be nearing fully valued status at a P/E of 20.
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