This Tech Stock Belongs on Your Watchlist

2011 is shaping up to be a tremendous year for Silicon Graphics International (Nasdaq: SGI  ) .

The second-quarter report in February blew away every estimate and sent the stock soaring. SGI is building on that momentum today with another stellar report: Third-quarter sales jumped 33% year-over-year to $144 million and produced $0.07 of non-GAAP earnings per share, far above the $0.12 loss per share on $136 million of revenue that a single analyst bravely put forth.

CEO Mark Barrenechea noted that this was "the fastest start to a calendar year we have ever experienced," and he predicted 2011 growth of nearly twice the big-iron computing industry's growth. Non-GAAP earnings are expected to add up to $0.40 to $0.50 per share this year in a marked departure from 2010's $0.82 pro forma loss per share.

Management devoted some space in its press release to brag about a performance-per-watt world record that left the best of IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) , Dell (Nasdaq: DELL  ) , and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) in the dust. Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN  ) was a prominent customer success story this quarter, presumably to power the data center needs of its growing cloud-computing ambitions. Several government agencies also placed large orders, making Amazon and Uncle Sam the two biggest clients in SGI's Rolodex.

There's a lot to love here, but investors have already taken SGI to heart. The share price has doubled year-to-date, and the stock sells for a nosebleed-inducing 38 times forward earnings. Granted, that estimate is based on the seemingly too-pessimistic forecasts from our lone gun-slinging analyst, and a more generous EPS forecast would yield a lower P/E ratio.

Our CAPS community is not scared of that valuation. SGI recently climbed to a desirable four-star grade (out of 5) with a 92% approval rating. All-Star players love this stock even more, giving it a 97% approval rating.

I'm undecided on whether the risks outweigh the potential rewards right now and would rather wait for a dip before staking my own all-star cred on SGI. So I'm just adding the stock to My Watchlist today, which makes it easy to stay right on top of the news flow. The next time SGI stumbles, I'll be ready to pounce.