What happened

Shares of Vicor (VICR 1.65%) spiked Wednesday after the  modular power components maker reported first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations. 

The tech stock jumped early in the trading session and was up by 10.5% as of 11:40 a.m. ET.

So what 

Vicor reported non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.25 in the quarter, which beat analysts' average estimate of $0.21, and was a huge improvement from its earnings of $0.11 per share in the year-ago quarter.

CEO Patrizio Vinciarelli said in a press release that he has "high expectations about Vicor's future growth and profitability" because of the company's imminent completion of a new foundry, the broad adoption of chips for automotive electrification, and its ongoing opportunities in the 5G and AI markets.

The company's operating cash flow was $10.1 million, a notable increase from the $4.6 million it reported in the year-ago quarter. Additionally, the total cash and cash equivalents on Vicor's books increased by 1% on a sequential basis to $192.9 million.

Total sales for the quarter rose 10.8% year over year to $97.8 million. That fell short of Wall Street's average estimate of $104.1 million, but investors were impressed enough with the company's earnings beat that they didn't seem to care much that revenue was below analysts' consensus estimate. 

Now what 

Management said on the earnings call that they expect second-quarter results to be "approximately flat" compared to the first quarter, with the potential for a modest sequential improvement. 

But the company's first-quarter results were enough to boost investor optimism, and the share price, on Wednesday morning.