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 Teekay Tankers (TNK -0.42%) jumped 11% yesterday after the company reported earnings.
So what: Fourth-quarter revenue fell 7.3% to $42.2 million, but income from operations improved from a loss both sequentially and year over year to a $17.2 million profit, helped by the reversal of a loss provision. Adjusted for that provision, the company's profit was $2.4 million, or $0.03 per share, well ahead of the $0.05 loss that Wall Street expected.
Now what: The tanker market has been in decline for years, but there were some positive signs near the end of 2013. Suezmax and Aframax dayrates were up sequentially and year over year in the spot market, a sign that demand is returning. I'm still wary of jumping in now because U.S. imports continue to fall, but the short-term news was positive for Teekay Tankers.
