Three months ago, data management specialist Teradata (NYSE: TDC) edged out analyst targets on both the top and bottom lines. The stock spiked overnight, but investors lost interest quickly. Since that first-quarter report, Teradata shares have fallen nearly 13% even as the broader market treaded water.

The company is gearing up for a second-quarter update ahead of Thursday's opening bell. Does the company have another analyst-stomping performance on tap? I think so, and here's why.

Your average analyst expects $0.65 of non-GAAP earnings per share, up from $0.60 a year ago. Revenue should jump 14% to $660 million. Management doesn't offer guidance on a quarterly basis, but raised its full-year earnings and sales outlook when the first quarter came in stronger than expected. The year-over-year comparisons will be tough in the second and third quarters because the 2011 periods turned out to be crushingly good.

CEO Michael Koehler rejects the notion that Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) or IBM (NYSE: IBM) would pose any credible threat to his data warehousing and analysis products, try as they might. Those data-handling traditionalists make you pick one information management product for large-scale big data environments and a different one for high-speed analysis. Teradata has done away with that distinction, Koehler says, making it easy to store commonly used data on faster but more expensive storage technologies (think in-memory or solid-state drives) while less frequently accessed bulk data can live on cheaper, slower devices (like magnetic hard drives or even tape storage).

That flexibility is a large part of how Teradata beats the big boys of general technology in head-to-head contract bids. That opens up the doors for sales of consulting services and specialized plug-in analysis tools. Consulting service sales should catch up to Teradata's overall revenue growth as the classic razor-and-blades model gains traction. In the last quarter, consulting lagged somewhat at 15% annual sales growth versus 22% higher total sales.

Teradata is a huge name in big data management, and only growing larger every quarter. In a special report, we even call it "The Only Stock You Need To Profit From the NEW Technology Revolution." Read all about it by clicking here, but hurry up -- the report is totally free right now but won't stay that way forever.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies mentioned. Check out Anders' holdings and bio, or follow him on Twitter and Google+. The Motley Fool owns shares of Oracle and International Business Machines. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Teradata. Motley Fool newsletter services have also recommended creating a synthetic long position in International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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