Why Herman Miller's Shares Plunged

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 fashionable office furniture supplier Herman Miller (NAS: MLHR) fell as much as 11% today, after announcing a drop in earnings.

So what: Revenue was down 2% to $449.7 million, below analyst estimates of $455.1 million. Net income declined 19%, to $20 million, or $0.34, which was $0.05 below estimates.

Now what: The big concern is that new orders fell 6%, and management brushed it off as "pockets of weak demand". Federal government and health care were the two negative sectors of the market and, despite strong consumer and international demand, the weakness is having a big impact on overall demand. I would like to see improvements in overall demand before jumping in but, with shares trading at less than 10 times next year's estimates, I think there is upside if growth returns. Opportunistic buying on dips over the next quarter will take advantage of short-term weakness after today's results.

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The article Why Herman Miller's Shares Plunged originally appeared on Fool.com.

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.

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