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 Capstone Turbine (CPST) jumped as much as 14% in early trading today after the microturbine maker announced a new order.
So what: Fifty Capstone C65 microturbines have been ordered for oil and gas shale plays around the country. Capstone distributor Horizon Power Systems secured the orders that will bring its fleet up to 550 units used to support various oil and gas production operations.
Now what: This is an incremental positive for Capstone, but it doesn't make the company profitable. Despite growth in the last couple of years, Capstone continues to report losses, and that's not good for a company trading at five times sales. At that price, the company needs to grow for years to come, and to improve margins dramatically, something I'm not willing to bet on even with this order.
