Why Shuffle Master Shares Sank

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 gaming device specialist Shuffle Master (NAS: SHFL) plunged 14% on Tuesday after its quarterly results disappointed Wall Street.

So what: Shuffle Master's second-quarter results were actually in line with estimates -- EPS of $0.20 on revenue of $66.1 million versus the consensus of $0.20 and $65.1 million -- but given the stock's run-up over the past six months, it's clear that investors were expecting more. Of course, gross and operating margins increased while management delivered record quarterly revenue growth, so expectations aside, the company seems to have some decent tailwinds working in its favor.

Now what: I'd look into this pullback as a possible buy-in opportunity. "We are confident that our continued strong momentum across our core businesses and the rollout of our interactive initiatives are key drivers of our future earnings potential and will write the next chapter of our profitable growth story," CEO Gavin Isaacs said. More important, with the stock down about 35% from its 52-week highs and trading at a forward P/E of 13, that growth might be available on the cheap.

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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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