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 Super Micro Computer (SMCI 0.47%) jumped nearly 16% early Wednesday, then settled to close up around 2% after the server technology specialist turned in solid fiscal third quarter results and forward guidance.
So what: Quarterly net sales rose 34.4% year-over-year to $373.8 million, which translated to 60.9% growth in adjusted net income per share to $0.37. Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings on the same basis of only $0.27 per share, with sales of just $335.19 million.
For the current quarter, Super Micro Computer expects net sales of $370 million to $410 million, with adjusted earnings per diluted share between $0.35 and $0.41. By contrast, analysts were modeling fiscal Q4 earnings of $0.35 per share on sales of $369.05 million.
Now what: This is Super Micro's second consecutive quarterly beat, and a huge one by any measure, as it appears the company's enjoying impressive demand during its transition to new technology. With shares currently trading at just 12.6 times next year's estimated earnings -- and keeping in mind those estimates are likely to drift higher as analysts have time to fully digest today's news -- I think the stock could still prove a bargain for patient long-term investors.
