Why Itron's Shares Collapsed

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 Itron (NAS: ITRI) fell as much as 13% today after releasing earnings that fell short of expectations.

So what: Revenue was pretty strong, climbing 1% to $571.6 million, beating the $549.8 million that analysts had expected. But higher-than-expected costs pushed profit down, and adjusted earnings per share were $0.91, which was $0.02 below estimates.

Now what: The quarter wasn't all bad, and as the day continues, we've seen a decent recovery from the early bashing the stock took. Higher costs from product development and an expansion of sales teams in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region were pointed to as drivers of the rising costs. Since these costs are really an investment in the future, they don't set off alarms for me. And with shares trading at just over 10 times forward earnings estimates, I think this dip is a nice buying opportunity for the stock.

Interested in more info on Itron? Add it to your watchlist byclicking here.

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.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.