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 oil explorer Emerald Oil Inc (NYSEMKT: EOX) fell as much as 11% today after reporting earnings.
So what: Last night, the company announced fourth quarter earnings, and while production increased 29% sequentially and 101% year over year to 220,793 barrels of oil equivalent, the company still lost $10.9 million, or $0.17 per share. That's well below the two-cent loss that analysts expected and is why shares are down big today.
Now what: At the end of the day, even increasing production has to turn a profit, and Emerald's $31.2 million loss last year left investors disappointed. But results are trending in the right direction, and if management can lower costs as planned the company can swing to a profit in 2014. Until I see that operational improvement I won't be jumping in as losses keep piling up.
