Georgia Gulf 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 Georgia Gulf Corp. (NYS: GGC) surged close to 19% in early trading and ended up about 16% on specific news. Yet the company was mentioned in a Bloomberg feature about rising global demand for industrial chemicals.

So what: In the interview, CEO Paul Carrico said that U.S. chemical exports outstripped imports for the first time last year. He also suggested that growth could continue for a while. "The U.S. has emerged as a low-cost producer of many of these products," Carrico told Bloomberg.

Now what: If he's right, the 8% annual earnings-growth target that analysts have pegged to Georgia Gulf and its chemical and household-products business could prove low. But that also wouldn't be surprising; the company has blown by earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters. Is this a global growth story in the making? You tell me. Weigh in using the comments box below.

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