Why Shares of Worthington Industries, Inc. Dropped Today

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 metals manufacturer Worthington Industries, went on a wild ride today, climbing 14% in early trading before falling to a 3% gain near the close of trading.

So what: The driver of today's move was fiscal second-quarter earnings, which showed a 24% increase in revenue, to $769.9 million, and a 28% drop in profit, to $23.0 million. But the drop in profit was in large part due to writing down assets related to rebranding. When you pull those costs out, earnings were $0.57 per share, $0.03 ahead of estimates.

Now what: Results were strong for Worthington, driven by the Steel Processing and Pressure Cylinders businesses. I'm most impressed by the earnings growth and, if the company can keep costs in check going forward, this could be a great value. Shares trade at 18.6 times earnings, which isn't bad. If they fall further in the coming weeks, this could be a great value stock as the economy improves.

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The article Why Shares of Worthington Industries, Inc. Dropped Today 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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