Why Conceptus 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 medical device maker Conceptus jumped as much as 12% following the release of its fourth-quarter results and after announcing an update on its European clinical trial for its next-generation Essure, a surgery-free birth-control device for women.

So what: For the quarter, revenue grew 21.5% to $40.7 million, as gross margin expanded 60 basis points to 84.1%. Net income also demonstrated significant growth, coming in at $0.17 compared to a loss of $0.08 per share in the year-ago period. Wall Street has only been expected $40.2 million in revenue and just $0.11 in EPS. Conceptus' 2013 forecast for $155 million to $159 million in revenue and EBITDA of $34 million to $37 million was pretty much right in line with the consensus. As icing on the cake, the company also announced its first patient enrollment in Europe for testing of Essure.

Now what: If I had a dollar for every time I could say that a company's product makes sense on paper, but its valuation is far from making sense, I'd probably have a lot of dollar and be a lot closer to retirement by now. I have little doubt that Essure will continue to be a growth driver for Conceptus, but I also feel it could be three years or more before revenue and earnings growth catch up with its already frothy valuation. Personally, I'm perfectly happy waiting this one out on the sidelines.

Craving more input? Start by adding Conceptus to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

While you can certainly make huge gains in biotech and medical device companies like Conceptus, the best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. In our free report "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich," we name stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of. Click here now to keep reading.

The article Why Conceptus Shares Popped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't 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.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.