Why Newport 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 photonics technologist Newport climbed 10% today after its quarterly results impressed Wall Street.

So what: Newport shares were crushed in early May on signs of slowing growth, but today's fourth-quarter earnings beat -- adjusted EPS of $0.37 versus the consensus of $0.21 -- reinforces recent optimism over management's turnaround initiatives. While revenue decreased 12% over the year-ago period, improvement in the company's product portfolio, as well as overall sentiment from customers, is giving analysts plenty of good vibes over demand going forward.

Now what: Management now sees first-quarter revenue of $36 million-$37 million, ahead of Wall Street's estimate of $34 million. "We continue to implement our strategic plan, with specific focus on long-term growth initiatives and effective operational execution, to position Newport to achieve significant growth in sales and profitability in the future," said President and CEO Robert Phillippy. With the stock still off about 15% from its 52-week high and trading at a forward P/E of 12, there might even be some room left to buy into that bull talk.

Interested in more info on Newport? Add it to your watchlist.

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

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