DeVry 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 DeVry (NYS: DV) led the S&P 500's list of decliners after an 18% haircut caused by an unexpected earnings miss. Apollo Group (NAS: APOL) and Corinthian Colleges (NAS: COCO) also fell on an otherwise up day for the market.

So what: Revenue fell 0.5% to $519 million while per-share profit declined 19% to $0.83. Analysts had been expecting $529.3 million and $0.96, respectively, according to data compiled by Yahoo! Finance. Enrollment also declined slightly.

Now what: Fools already were uneasy about DeVry shares, giving the stock just two out of five stars in Motley Fool CAPS. The miss isn't likely to change their view much, even if the downside risk from here is muted, as the stock trades for just eight times earnings. Do you agree? Disagree? Please weigh in using the comments box below.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of theMotley Fool Rule Breakersstock-picking team. He didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned at the time of publication. Check out Tim's portfolio holdings and Foolish writings, or connect with him on Google+ or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.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.

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