Why Johnson Outdoors Shares Dropped

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 Johnson Outdoors were getting left out in the cold today, falling as much as 16% after reporting fourth-quarter earnings this morning.

So what: The maker of outdoor-recreation products fell short of expectations, posting a per-share loss of $0.35 against estimates of just a $0.09 loss, and down from a $0.32 per-share loss the year before. Sales increased 3.4% to $426.5 million, mostly because of its recent acquisition of JetBoil, the world leader in personal outdoor cooking systems. The summer quarter is traditionally a weak one for Johnson, which partly explains the loss, though CEO Helen Johnson-Leipold said the company "made progress toward our long-term goal of sustained profitable growth."

Now what:Considering the fourth quarter is a historically weak one for Johnson, I wouldn't be too worried about the quarterly loss. Full-year EPS nearly doubled from the year before to $1.95, and beat the estimate of the one analyst covering the stock at $1.89. After a sharp sell-off at market open, shares recovered to trade just 6% down, which seems more appropriate. I wouldn't expect any fireworks from Johnson at this point, but the stock should be more stable going forward than today's news indicates.

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The article Why Johnson Outdoors Shares Dropped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Jeremy Bowman and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't 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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