What: Shares of The Spectranetics Corporation (NASDAQ: SPNC), a medical device maker that specializes in minimally invasive products used in cardiovascular surgery, were up as much as 25% in early trading today after the company released third quarter earnings that gave its investors plenty of reasons to cheer.

So what: Revenue for the quarter came in at $61.7 million, which was up 7% over the same period a year ago when adjusting for changes in the currency markets. Non-GAAP net loss for the quarter was $7.2 million, or $0.17 per share.

Both of those numbers compared favorably to analyst projections -- Wall Street analysts were only expecting revenue for the quarter to be $60.1 million, and they were expecting a higher net loss of $0.26 per share.

Now what: The market was likely relieved to see that Spectranetics was able to beat its projections, especially when considering how its shares slumped after the company reported disappointing results last quarter.

Looking ahead to the full year, Spectranetics is guiding for its revenue to land between $242 million to $248 million, and it expects its non-GAAP net loss for the year to come in between $40.0 million to $44.0 million, or a loss of $0.94 to $1.04 per share. Those numbers fit nicely around analysts' current full year expectations of $243 million in revenue and a net loss of $1.02.

While it's certainly encouraging to see the company beat its expectations on the top- and bottom-line this quarter, I'm personally content to continue to watch this story unfold from the sidelines -- although I'd be happy to change my tune once the company proves that it is capable of reaching profitability.