Why ACCO Brands' Shares Plunged

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 office supply maker ACCO Brands fell as much as 13% in early trading today before settling in at a 5% drop.

So what: First quarter earnings released last night showed a 22% jump in revenue, to $352 million, which was still well short of the $386.2 million estimate from Wall Street. On the bottom line, the company's loss fell from $17.4 million a year ago to $9 million, or $0.07 per share on an adjusted basis, but this fell short of the break-even results analysts predicted.

Now what: The acquisition of Meadwestvaco's consumer and office business drove most of the revenue growth, so this was expected by investors. Management did say it expects an adjusted profit of $0.95 to $1.05 per share, which would give the stock about a 6.5 P/E ratio. I'm cautiously optimistic in the company's value, but if revenue slips at all going forward, I would be prepared to jump ship.

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The article Why ACCO Brands' Shares Plunged 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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