What: Shares of quartz product maker CaesarStone Sdot-Yam Ltd (CSTE 7.91%) dropped more than 19% today after the company reported second-quarter results that weren't exactly up to Wall Street's expectations.
So what: Bottom-line results were actually better than expected. Net income increased 26% to $22.9 million, or $0.65 per share, which was $0.03 ahead of estimates.
But top-line results were underwhelming to the market, and that's been a key focus for investors in 2015. Second-quarter revenue was up 10% to $127.5 million, but that still fell short of the $134.2 million analysts expected. For the full year, management lowered revenue guidance from $515 million-$525 million to a range of $495 million-$505 million. Not surprisingly, that's well below the $521.5 million projection analysts had set.
Now what: While the top-line results for the second quarter and guidance for the full year seem alarming, it's important to put them in context. Management said "slightly lower-than-expected U.S. growth" and a negative impact from a strong dollar are driving the weak revenue numbers.
Improving gross margins and lower operating and financing costs, which drove the bottom line higher, offset the top-line disappointment. All in all, the company is performing well, even though it didn't hit expectations today. Remember that the stock is up 35% over the past year, so expectations may have gotten ahead of performance. A pullback in the stock is nothing to panic about for long-term investors.
