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 Clean Harbors Inc (CLH -0.42%) fell 15% today after the company announced fourth-quarter earnings.
So what: Revenue for the quarter was up 57.3% from a year ago to $879.4 million, but still fell short of the $894.2 million analysts expected. Earnings per share were $0.44, which also fell below expectations of $0.55 from Wall Street.
Now what: Management said weather-related slowdowns in energy, industrial, and field services all affected business in the fourth quarter. This is a common theme across businesses this year, but it's impacting guidance for Q1 as well. Clean Harbors' revenue is expected to be just $820-$840 million next quarter, below the $904 million estimate, but that full-year guidance of $3.5-$3.6 billion in revenue was in line with estimates.
I don't think the bad quarter or two is a major reason to panic, because a lot of the weakness is related to weather. I see this as a great buying opportunity for investors looking at Lean Harbors right now.
