What: Shares of Fusion-io, (FIO.DL) jumped more than 13% Thursday after the company exceeded expectations with its fiscal second-quarter report.
So what: Quarterly revenue came in at $94.5 million, with adjusted gross and operating margins of 57.6% and negative 11.4%, respectively. That translated to an adjusted net loss of $0.06 per diluted share. By contrast, analysts were expecting a wider $0.10 per share loss on sales of just $89.43 million.
Going forward, Fusion-io also effectively repeated last quarter's cautious approach to guidance, calling for fiscal third-quarter revenue to be "in-line to slightly up sequentially." Moreover, the company stated that gross margin should be roughly 51% to 53%, while non-GAAP operating margin will deteriorate to a range of negative 15% to 20%.
Now what: However, I'm inclined to take its latest guidance with a grain of salt after noting this quarter's results significantly differed from the company's own projections -- this time for the better. Still, today's jump is understandable considering that, even after the pop, shares of Fusion-io currently sit around 18% lower than their levels just three months ago. In the end, though, given Fusion-io's lack of profits and expected near-term absence of significant top-line growth, I prefer to stay on the sidelines for now.
