Clean Harbors 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 hazmat-management specialist Clean Harbors (NYS: CLH) sparkled today while running up as high as 14.9% on five times the average daily volume.

So what: This was a classic beat-and-raise performance, as Clean Harbors reported earnings far above Street estimates and then increased its full-year revenue guidance.

Now what: The company is still profiting from the mess BP (NYS: BP) and Transocean (NYS: RIG) left in the Gulf of Mexico last year, and it's also raking in dough for cleaning up a more recent Exxon Mobil (NYS: XOM) spill in the Yellowstone River, among other bright spots. One company's environmental disaster is Clean Harbors' cash cow, and increasing drilling activity in the company's mainly North American service areas will keep the, uh, opportunities coming. "It's a dirty job," says fellow Fool Alyce Lomax, "but someone's gotta do it." She has funneled real Fool dollars into this stock to take advantage of that dirty fact and should be feeling pretty good about that decision today.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here. The Motley Fool owns shares of Clean Harbors and Transocean. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.

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