Why AGCO Shares Popped

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 farm equipment maker AGCO (NYS: AGCO) climbed as high as 10% on Tuesday after its quarterly results and full-year outlook topped Wall Street expectations.

So what: The stock has slumped in recent months on concerns over slowing growth, but a wide first-quarter beat -- EPS of $1.21 versus the consensus of just $0.86 -- is triggering hopes of a relatively quick turnaround. Booming demand for agricultural commodities boosted sales in North America and Europe, while gross margins also trended in the right direction, suggesting that AGCO has particularly strong tailwinds working in its favor.

Now what: Management now sees full-year 2012 EPS of $5.50, up nicely from its prior view of $5.00. "We will maintain our focus on improving profitability throughout 2012, while also increasing our investments to support our longer-term objectives," said Chairman and CEO Martin Richenhagen. "We are forecasting another year of solid cash generation." With the stock still off about 16% from its 52-week highs and currently trading at a cheapish forward P/E of nine, buying into that optimism doesn't seem like a bad idea.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. 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 Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

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