Why TrueBlue 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 blue-collar staffing service TrueBlue were looking stronger today, gaining as much as 12% after reporting quarterly earnings.

So what: TrueBlue, which provides staffing services under the brand name Labor Ready, beat earnings estimates by $0.06, posting a per-share profit of $0.19. Revenue fell 1.6% from a year ago to $344.6 million but still topped estimates, and management said sales would have grown 4% excluding the impact of one large project. The company also acquired nearly all of the assets of MDT Personnel, a staffing firm with 105 locations, for $48 million. CEO Steve Cooper expressed optimism about the coming year and said TrueBlue continues to benefit from an improving construction market.

Now what: As the results of staffing peer Kforce seemed to confirm, which gained 20% after reporting earnings, temp staffing providers look like major beneficiaries from the recovering employment market. True Blue is projecting a small loss this quarter, but that may have as much to do with the integration of MDT as anything else. The combined company has revenues around $1.6 billion, and I expect performance to improve along with the job market.

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The article Why TrueBlue Shares Jumped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Jeremy Bowman and The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

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