Investopedia: Do Molycorp's Earnings Even Matter Right Now?

For the many years that I've been following and writing on stocks, I still manage to be surprised at how investors will react to certain bits of news. American rare earth producer Molycorp (NYSE:MCP) is just one example - talk after the company's earnings announcement was about how the company had missed estimates and how that was pressuring the stock.

Really?


At this point, revenue and earnings are all but irrelevant to the Molycorp story. That leads me to believe that events like earnings releases are more of an excuse and a liquidity opportunity for investors, and that ex-post facto explanations like missed estimates are missing the mark.

The Results
Molycorp announced that it sold 696 metric tons of rare earth oxides in the first quarter - 65% more than in the year-ago period and 9% more than in the fourth quarter. Realized prices were more than five times higher than in the year-ago period, and increased almost 11% on a sequential basis. With that, revenue soared relative to the year-ago period and rose more than 20% from the fourth quarter.

To read the full piece, please click the link below:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Do-Molycorps-Earnings-Even-Matter-Right-Now-MCP-REMX-AVL-REE-FCX-VALE-LYSDY0513.aspx