Nuance Communications Shares Sank: 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 speech recognition technologist Nuance Communications (NAS: NUAN) dropped as much as 14% after its first-quarter results disappointed Wall Street.

So what: The quarterly miss -- adjusted EPS of $0.34 versus the consensus of $0.36 -- represents its first in four quarters, triggering fresh fears over slowing growth. Of course, Nuance shares were running up heavily into the earnings report, so a pullback shouldn't come as a big surprise.

Now what: I'd look into this weakness as a possible buying opportunity. Looking ahead, management now sees second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.36-$0.40 on revenue of $395 million to $415 million, which is pretty much in line with Wall Street estimates. Given Nuance's still-solid growth prospects and the fact that today's miss was caused largely by delayed revenues, I'd expect the shares to bounce back relatively quickly.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorBrian Pacamparaowns no position in any of the companies mentioned.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Nuance. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Fool'sdisclosure policyalways gets a perfect score.

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