iRobot Shares Zoomed: 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 iRobot (NAS: IRBT) , which makes the Roomba vacuum cleaner along with military robots, surged 17% on Wednesday after its quarterly results and full-year forecast thumped Wall Street expectations.

So what: iRobot's third-quarter was so impressive -- EPS nearly doubled to $0.50 on 28% revenue growth -- that investors are being forced to considerably boost their valuation estimates. The company is seeing particularly strong global demand for its home robot products (sales in the segment surged 56%), suggesting that its international prospects might be a lot more potent than Mr. Market gives it credit for.

Now what: Don't expect the positive momentum to slow anytime soon. Because of strong current-quarter performance, iRobot even raised its full-year earnings outlook by 25% -- its second forecast increase this year -- on total revenue of $465 million to $470 million. iRobot's 30-ish P/E doesn't exactly look cheap, but if management continues its guidance-boosting behavior, it might end up being a steal.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of iRobot. 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 Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

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