DigitalGlobe 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 DigitalGlobe (NYS: DGI) surged as much as 12% in early trading and closed up nearly 9% on better-than-expected second-quarter results.

So what: Revenue rose slightly to $81.7 million from $81 million in last year's Q2 while booking a $0.01-per-share net loss, reversing last year's one penny of profit. Analysts were expecting a wider loss -- $0.02, to be specific -- on $80.4 million in revenue, The Associated Press reported, citing data from FactSet.

Now what: While I understand the merits of a beat, I think there are better earth-imagery specialists out there. Take GeoEye (NAS: GEOY) . This Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation has earned $1.41 of profit over the trailing 12 months and trades for a small premium to Wall Street's long-term earnings-growth projections. By contrast, DigitalGlobe trades for more than 140 times analysts' best guesses. Which stock would you rather own? Weigh in using the comments box below.

Interested in more info on DigitalGlobe?Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorTim Beyersis a member of theMotley Fool Rule Breakersstock-picking team. He didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article at the time of publication. Check out Tim'sportfolio holdingsandFoolish writings, or connect with him onGoogle+or Twitter, where he goes by@milehighfool. You can also get his insightsdelivered directly to your RSS reader.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of GeoEye. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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