Why Dealertrack Technologies 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 Dealertrack Technologies rose more than 11% Wednesday, after the company's third quarter results beat estimates.

So what: Quarterly revenue rose 25.7% to $124.6 million, which translated to adjusted net income of $0.39 per share. By contrast, analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of just $0.34 per share on sales of $120.47 million.

As a result, Dealertrack also raised its full-year 2013 sales guidance and now expects revenue between $477 million and $480 million, up from its previous guidance for 2013 sales between $464 million and $468 million. However, it also maintained its previous earnings guidance for non-GAAP net income between $1.26 and $1.31 per share. Even so, that's still at the high end of analysts expectations, which called for full-year 2013 non-GAAP earnings of $1.30 per share.

Now what: Still, the stock's not exactly cheap trading at more than 28 times next year's estimates, so Dealertrack will need to make sure it also grows earnings at a decent clip going forward to continue justifying its valuation. I wouldn't be surprised if the recent rally still has some legs left, but investors would be wise to note that they're paying a premium for this stock today.

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The article Why Dealertrack Technologies Shares Popped originally appeared on Fool.com.

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