Why Euronet Worldwide, Inc. Stock Popped 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 Euronet Worldwide, were up as much as 12% Wednesday after ATM and money transfer specialist reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results.

So what:Quarterly revenue climbed 23% year over year to $462 million, which translated to 17% growth in adjusted earnings per share to $0.74. Analysts, on average, were only expecting earnings of $0.69 per share on revenue of $444.5 million.

Euronet CEO Michael Brown noted all three segments enjoyed double-digit growth in revenue, adjusted operating income, and adjusted EBITDA. Brown elaborated, "EFT growth was driven by expansion of our ATM networks, epay benefited from an expanded network and product portfolio, and money transfer results reflect core business growth as well as gains from the Walmart-2-Walmart product and acquisition of HiFX."

Now what:For the current quarter, Euronet expects adjusted earnings per share to be roughly $0.54. That's just below analysts' expectations for earnings of $0.56 per share, but also includes a negative $0.05 per share impact due to declines in foreign exchange rates from the same year-ago period.

In the end, this was a solid performance worthy of investors' enthusiasm. With shares trading below 18 times this year's expected earnings even after today's pop, it's hard to blame the market for bidding up Euronet stock.

The article Why Euronet Worldwide, Inc. Stock Popped Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Steve Symington 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.