Why Gaylord Entertainment's Shares Jumped

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 hotel operator Gaylord Entertainment (NYS: GET) were reaching for the sky today, gaining as much as 14% in intraday trading after the company released preliminary first-quarter results.

So what: Cutting right to the chase, for the first quarter the company expects $0.12 in income from continuing operations per share. That not only reverses a loss from the prior year, but easily tops the $0.05 that Wall Street analysts were looking for.

On the top line, revenue for the quarter was up 8% from the prior year, to $239 million. That was also above analyst estimates. Helping drive the revenue growth was a 4.9% increase in total revenue per available room night.

Now what: The news is a nice respite for shareholders as the company has been working its way back after two key properties in Nashville were flooded in 2010. The company filed a suit earlier this week alleging that negligence on the part of the National Weather Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contributed to the $250 million in damages.

While that will undoubtedly be a contentious battle, at least for now investors have some news to celebrate.

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