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 electronic manufacturing services specialist Fabrinet (FN 0.75%) sank 15% today after its quarterly results and outlook missed Wall Street expectations.
So what: The stock has soared over the past year on better than expected growth, but an in-line third quarter -- adjusted earnings per share of $0.34 on a revenue increase of 8% -- coupled with downbeat guidance is forcing Mr. Market to sober up a bit. On the bright side, Fabrinet's operating margin expanded about 500 basis points over the year-ago period to 75.4%, suggesting that its competitive position is strengthening nonetheless.
Now what: For the current quarter, management now sees adjusted EPS of $0.33-$0.35 on revenue of $169 million-$173 million, below the consensus of $0.39 and $174.1 million. "With industry demand showing signs of improving, I am confident that we will continue to execute on our vision of providing world-class service to our customers and delivering profitable growth for our shareholders," CEO Tom Mitchell reassured investors in the company's earnings press release. More important, with Fabrinet shares now off about 20% from their 52-week highs and sporting a single-digit P/E, the market might finally be offering a cheap opportunity to buy into that bullishness.
