Why Foster Wheeler's Wheels Fell Off

Updated

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 construction firm Foster Wheeler dropped 16% today after the company reported earnings.

So what: Revenue fell a whopping 35% from a year ago, to $735.3 million, way below the $981.7 million estimate. Earnings were also weak, and even when you pull out one-time items earnings per share of $0.27, they fell well short of the $0.46 that analysts expected.


Now what: Management said to expect flat results as a mild economic recovery takes place. The company expects earnings of about $1.54 per share next year, when analysts expected $2.03, so that didn't help matters, either. Shares trade at 13 times the company's 2013 estimate and, given the direction of results, that's still too expensive for me to jump in today.

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The article Why Foster Wheeler's Wheels Fell Off originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. 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 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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