Beacon Roofing Supply 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 roofing materials company Beacon Roofing Supply (NAS: BECN) fell as much as 10.5% earlier in the trading day following the company's fourth-quarter earnings results.

So what: Beacon Roofing actually turned in a pretty decent quarter, all things considered. Revenue clocked in at $575.6 million, well ahead of the $551.6 million consensus estimates with profits coming in $0.03 ahead of expectations. Canada continues to be a strong geographical performer, and storm damage to roofs -- thanks in part to some rough weather in the U.S. -- has helped boost the company's results.

Now what: Despite the strong quarter, I can't say that I'm any more of a fan of Beacon than I was back in June when I suggested selling it near $22.50. The U.S. housing market remains a precarious place to invest, and I'm just not convinced that nonresidential sales will remain strong enough to counteract the weakness in residential housing. Having missed on earnings in three of the past six quarters, I'm not convinced that Beacon's wild price swings are behind it. For now, I'm more than happy staying on the sidelines.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong , track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't 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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