Coherent Shares Plunged: 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 Coherent (NAS: COHR) fell nearly 12% in early trading, as investors appeared to want better guidance from the photonics specialist.

So what: Fiscal third-quarter results were solid if unspectactular. Revenue grew 26.5% to $210.9 million, while profit rose 25.8% to $0.83 a share. Analysts had been calling for $206.95 million and $0.83, respectively, according to data compiled by Yahoo! Finance.

Now what: But again, investors didn't care about the revenue beat. During its call with analysts, Coherent said fourth-quarter revenue could come in between $205 million and $212 million. Analysts are projecting $211.9 million. So by the numbers, there's virtually zero chance of Coherent beating estimates next quarter -- and on Wall Street, anything less than a beat is a miss. Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think using the comments box below.

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