Tesco Shares Popped: 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 oil and gas technology-based equipment solutions provider Tesco (NAS: TESO) are shooting 11% higher after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

So what: For the quarter, Tesco reported a profit $0.29 on a 44% rise in revenue to $163.1 million. These figures crushed expectations that called for Tesco to earn $0.19 on just $137.7 million in revenue. Top Drive sales fueled Tesco's growth with overall revenue in this segment spiking 34%. After-market sales and service also jumped 36%.

Now what: The math here is pretty simple: As oil heads higher, the demand for oil service companies' products will rise as well. Tesco is small, but it looks well-positioned to capitalize on triple-digit oil prices. On a 12-month trailing basis, at 22 times earnings Tesco appears fairly valued to me, but that's only because it's difficult to gauge what the future holds since Tesco didn't give any indication of its fiscal 2012 guidance. For now I'm perfectly happy just being a neutral bystander, but it's definitely a stock worth watching.

Craving more input? Start by adding Tesco to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

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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