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 car rental company Avis Budget Group (CAR 0.62%) rallied 10% today after its quarterly results and guidance impressed Wall Street.
So what: The stock has soared over the past year on a string of better-than-expected quarters, and today's fourth-quarter beat -- adjusted EPS of $0.12 topped the consensus by $0.03 -- coupled with upbeat guidance only reinforces that positive momentum. In fact, adjusted EBITDA soared 46% on solid revenue growth of 9% and expanding margins, giving analysts plenty of good vibes over Avis' current pricing environment and fleet costs.
Now what: Management now sees full-year 2014 EPS of $2.45-$2.85 on revenue of $8.3 billion-$8.5 billion, versus the consensus of $2.72 and $8.35 billion. "The Company is continuing its award-winning efforts to reduce costs and enhance productivity through its Performance Excellence process-improvement initiative," said Avis in a statement. "In addition, the Company expects to achieve incremental synergy benefits in 2014 from its acquisition and continued integration of Avis Europe, Payless and Zipcar." Of course, with Avis shares now up more than 100% from their 52-week lows, much of that outlook might already be baked into the price.
