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 Innophos Holdings (IPHS) popped as much as 13% today after reporting earnings.
So what: Sales were up 1% from a year ago and 10% sequentially to $216.3 million in the first quarter, and net income was up 14% to $14.2 million, or $0.64 per share. Earnings were a penny short of expectations, but revenue was higher than expected, and in a market where any growth is good, that's what investors are looking at today.
Now what: Management was very bullish on the recent activity for the company after a slow start to the year because of bad weather. I would expect momentum to pick up operationally as the year goes on, and if that happens, the company's 13.6 forward P/E ratio looks attractive. Keep an eye on management's meeting those expectations the rest of the year if this momentum is going to continue.
