Why OmniVision Shares Soared

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 image sensor specialist OmniVision Technologies spiked 19% today after its quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations.

So what: The stock has been volatile over the past year on demand uncertainty, but a wide fourth-quarter beat -- adjusted EPS of $0.31 on revenue of $336.2 million vs. the consensus of $0.21 and $318.9 million -- coupled with upside guidance is quickly easing those concerns. In fact, management cited strong demand from Chinese smartphone makers for the encouraging report, reigniting optimism on Wall Street over the mobile trends working in OmniVision's favor.

Now what: Management now sees adjusted first-quarter EPS of $0.35-$0.52 on revenue of $355 million-$390 million, well above the consensus of $0.28 and $347.2 million. "Our goals remain to provide image sensors of choice to all customers, continue to improve our financial performance and ultimately bring benefits to our stockholders," said CEO Shaw Hong in a conference call with analysts. More important, with a rock-solid balance sheet and a cheapish forward P/E of 11, OmniVision's downside seems limited enough to buy into that bull talk.

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

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The article Why OmniVision Shares Soared originally appeared on Fool.com.

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