Why Tronox's Shares Dropped

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 titanium dioxide maker Tronox (NYS: TROX) fell as much as 25% today, after the company released earnings.

So what: In the third quarter, revenue rose 5%, to $487.3 million, and income from continuing operations was $25.6 million, or $0.21 per share. But analysts had expected revenue of $532.1 million and earnings of $0.45 per share, so these results were a huge disappointment to investors.

Now what: An earnings miss is never good, but this was a huge miss on both the top and bottom line. Management said that it was still purchasing feedstock from prior contracts, and cost of goods sold will fall when the company is operating on a more vertically integrated basis. To make matters worse, the company bought back 12.6 million shares at an average price of $25.85, about $10 above today's price.

Earnings have swung wildly in recent quarters and, while I have hope for the company's value in the future, I simply can't be a buyer after such a disappointing profit.

Interested in more info on Tronox? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

The article Why Tronox's Shares Dropped originally appeared on Fool.com.

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