Shutterfly 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 online photo services company Shutterfly (NAS: SFLY) are suffering from the red-eye effect today, down as much as 11% earlier today, on news that its CFO, Mark Rubash, is leaving the company next month.

So what: In most cases, it's not a good sign when a top executive is leaving the company, and today's move lower is evidence of that. The company declined to say where Mr. Rubash is headed outside of mentioning that it was a start-up medical technology company. CEO Jeff Housenbold and Chief Accounting Officer Brian Manca will assume Rubash's duties until a replacement is found.

Now what: Although it's disappointing to see one of its top executives leave, Shutterfly has a bigger-picture problem to worry about. Competing photo- and card-printing companies have taken to lowering prices to stay competitive with Shutterfly, which has crimped the company's margins and forced it to drastically reduce earnings estimates. With no clear-cut solution in sight, it's going to take more than just a new CFO to cure Shutterfly's woes.

Craving more input? Start by adding Shutterfly to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep track of the latest news stories with the stock.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorSean Williamshas no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen nameTMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen nameTrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle@TMFUltraLong. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree 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 adisclosure policy.

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