Why Pegasystems Shares Popped

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 Pegasystems (NASDAQ: PEGA  ) have popped today by upwards of 20% after the company reported earnings with strong guidance.

So what: Revenue in the fourth quarter totaled $143.8 million, which absolutely crushed the $122.6 million in sales that investors were expecting. The bottom line told a similar story, with the non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.65 blowing way past the consensus estimate of $0.33 per share in profit. CEO Alan Trefler said the company saw record bookings in the fourth quarter from both new and existing clients.

Now what: Guidance for 2013 also came out better than expected, with full-year revenue expected to be $510 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share for the year should be approximately $1.20, after excluding stock-based compensation and intangible asset amortization. Street analysts would have been happy with just $489 million in sales and $0.93 per share in profit.

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