Why Shares of KEYW Holding Corp. Popped 29% in May

What: Shares of cybersecurity firm KEYW Holding Corp. (KEYW) jumped 29% in the month of May after the company reported first-quarter 2016 earnings.

So what: Quarterly revenue from continuing operations jumped 7% to $73.6 million and net loss nearly tripled to $15.4 million, or $0.39 per share. But after pulling out a loss from discontinued operations, it earned $0.05 per share, much better than the $0.09 loss analysts expected.  

For the full year, management expects revenue of $285 million to $305 million and adjusted EBITDA margins of 10% to 13%. After earnings came out, the consensus earnings estimate for the year jumped from a $0.01 loss to a $0.10 profit, so expectations are on the rise.

Now what: Growth is still slow and even profitability is only coming from adjusted numbers. But it looks like management is starting to gain traction in the current business. After the divestiture of the SETA business and the sale of Hexis Cyber Solutions' HawkEye AP, it will take some time to have stable financial statements, so the adjusted numbers are the best we have. With estimates still only at a $0.10-per-share profit for the year, there's not enough value for me to jump into shares now, but if growth continues, it could be a good year for shares.