Manitowoc Shares Jumped: 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 heavy-equipment maker Manitowoc (NYS: MTW) soared 17% on Wednesday after its quarterly results slightly topped Wall Street estimates.

So what: Manitowoc shares have been battered in recent months on relentless global economic fears, so even a small beat -- its EPS of $0.18 topped the consensus by a penny -- is giving investors plenty of relief. In fact, operating earnings in the crane business surged 58% on strong demand in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, suggesting that its exposure to emerging markets isn't as worrisome as Mr. Market had previously thought.

Now what: "We are well positioned for the long term as we continue to capitalize on activity driven by large infrastructure and energy projects in cranes and momentum from new product launches in food service," CEO Glen Tellock said. Management even backed its full-year forecast for 20%-25% revenue growth in its crane segment and high single-digit top-line growth in its food service business. Buying into a big pop isn't ideal, but with the stock still down by more than 50% over the past six months, there seems to be plenty more room to bounce.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. 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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