Shortfall

The Whisper Number was a buck twenty 26. The Street had published the earnings per share number at $1.18 on IBES but everyone "knew" the print, when the company announced its quarter, would be a big beat. But it wasn't. In fact, earnings were only $1.07, a big shortfall against lofty expectations. So now the stock craters and instead of trading at 28x earnings, the company falls all the way back to trading at 20x earnings. Welcome to the NFL: No Freaking Laggards (trade at 28x earnings).