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 security provider Brink's Company (BCO 1.21%) dropped 13% after announcing changes to its policies in Venezuela.
So what: Brink's is writing down the value if its Venezuelan business after the country's currency plunged 88% last month. The company will now use the 50 bolivars per dollar exchange rate, which will devalue assets worth $120 million at the end of 2013. Hypothetical 2013 earnings using the new rate would have resulted in a profit decline from $2.37 per share to $1.55 per share.
Now what: This will have a huge impact on earnings going forward because the Venezuelan business was a significant portion of operations. I'm actually surprised the stock isn't down more given the huge drop in earnings that will be coming this year. I definitely don't see this as a reason to jump into the stock today, and would wait for the sell-off to settle before reevaluating.
