Cobalt International Energy Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

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 Cobalt International Energy (NYS: CIE) fell 10% in intraday trading today after the company said it was having technical difficulties in Angola.

So what: The company will be abandoning one of two wells in Angola because of a technical problem. This puts into question when drilling might resume on a new well -- and therefore pushes out any cash flow potential.

Now what: That will impact the future, but reported results for the second quarter, which also came out today, were actually better than expected. Cobalt reported a $0.05 loss per share, which beat estimates by $0.03. But that little bit of good news was quickly overshadowed by the failure in Angola.

Interested in more info on Cobalt International Energy? Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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