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 Move (NASDAQ: MOVE) jumped by as much as 11% Tuesday afternoon following reports that it might be acquired by fellow online real estate specialist Trulia (NYSE: TRLA).
So what: Benzinga cited a source familiar with the matter as saying Trulia was in talks to purchase Move for up to $18 per share. That would value Move at just over $712 million, or a nearly 30% premium to yesterday's close.
Now what: In theory, joining forces would help the two smaller companies more effectively compete with industry stalwart Zillow (ZG -0.65%), which owns a $5.2 billion market cap that is more than twice the combined size of Trulia and Move. Of course, shares of Zillow trade around 158 times next year's expected earnings and 23 times sales, so it could also mean Zillow stock is significantly overvalued. Even so, keep in mind that Zillow has made a habit recently of snagging high-level executives from Move, one of whom even admitted in his resignation letter that he had "lost faith in Move." He ultimately reached out to Zillow regarding a possible position.
It's hard to blame existing long-term investors for wanting to stick with Move, especially since shares still trade well below the aforementioned acquisition price. In the end, though, I'd personally be inclined to take today's gain and put it to work elsewhere.
