Avery Dennison Shares Got Crushed: 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: The label business fell flat in the fourth quarter, sending shares of Avery Dennison (NYS: AVY) down 10% early in trading.

So what: Revenue in the fourth quarter was down slightly to $1.45 billion, but it fell well short of the $1.59 billion analysts had expected. The bottom line looked like a misprint with earnings falling 81% to $22.1 million for the quarter. Earnings per share were $0.21, less than half of the $0.46 analysts had expected.

Now what: There's not really a good way to paint this one, except to be happy the stock hasn't fallen further. The company did increase its dividend to $0.27 per share, but I would rather see that along with improving operating conditions. I have to sell this report today and won't be jumping in until the business stops its recent streak of missing earnings expectations by a wide margin.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.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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