WMS Industries 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 casino game supplier WMS Industries (NYS: WMS) fell 28% today after the company released earnings.

So what: Revenue declined 5% to $203.2 million and fell below estimates of $210.8 million. But the bottom line was worse where earnings per share fell to $0.18 from $0.56 a year ago.

Now what: Some of the decline in profit was because of a charge related to cutting staff approximately 10%. KeyBanc Capital saw enough bad news to downgrade shares from a buy to hold, which didn't help shares any today. I would like to say that shares are moving into value territory, but catching a falling knife is a tough proposition in today's market.

Interested in more info on WMS Industries? 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.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.