The market can oftentimes focus too much on companies’ short-term results. Whether a company meets, beats, or misses expectations for a given quarter, the results can be a notable spike or slide in its share price. The problem is that paying too much attention to such fluctuations can drive both investors and management toward short-term thinking.
If you’re an investor who can keep your focus on the long term, though, you don’t have to worry as much about how a company in your portfolio does during any single quarter, and can be guided instead by the bigger picture.
Based on its long-term prospects, one stock I see as particularly intriguing now is Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), also known as just AMD. It recently reported earnings numbers that didn’t beat the analysts’ consensus across all key metrics — its adjusted per-share profit missed expectations by one cent, which led to a (brief) decline in its share price. While a large-scale sell-off isn’t underway, the stock could still be a terrific buy right now.