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 General Cable Corporation (BGC) jumped as much as 15% today after the company reported a disappointing fourth quarter but fared better than expected guidance.
So what: Fourth quarter revenue fell 6% to $1.55 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $0.15 fell a penny below expectations. But Wall Street wasn't as concerned about the past numbers as what management expects for the future and that's what got investors excited today.
Management said first quarter 2015 revenue is expected to be $1.1 billion to $1.15 billion and adjusted earnings per share will be between a loss of a penny and a loss of $0.16. These revenues will be lower than the $1.28 billion analysts are expecting, but the loss on a per-share basis will be much smaller than the $0.24 currently predicted and that gave investors enough confidence to buy today.
Now what: 2015 earnings estimates are currently at $0.81 per share, which given the stronger than expected first-quarter guidance could be low for General Cable. Given the current revenue trends, I don't think there's a lot of growth ahead for General Cable but management has cut costs and appears to be on its way to improved profitability going forward. With a 6.3% dividend yield and a forward P/E ratio of 16 that will likely fall as analysts adjust estimates I think this is a good buy in a market where values are tough to come by.
