Cray shares soar on strong quarter, Appro deal

Shares of Cray Inc. rose Friday after the supercomputer company announced better-than-expected third-quarter results.

The Seattle company also said it is buying a privately held supercomputer systems maker, Appro, for $25 million to expand its portfolio of supercomputing options.

Cray also said Friday that it had a net loss of $5.2 million, or 14 cents per share, for its fiscal third quarter that ended Sept. 30. That compares with a loss of $12.2 million, or 35 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue fell 3 percent to $35.7 million from $36.7 million.

Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting the company to post a loss of 50 cents per share on revenue of $30 million.

It said that a "wide range of results" remains possible for 2012 due to the timing of deals for two of its supercomputers. The computers are two of the largest the company has ever built and together could make up $180 million in revenue.

If the deals move forward as planned, the company expects revenue of $450 million for the year; analysts had forecast revenue of $438.4 million. It expects to be profitable for the year on an adjusted basis. Analysts expect a profit of 90 cents per share.

The forecast does not include the planned acquisition of Appro.

Cray said it expects its revenue to grow slightly in 2013 and anticipates that the company will be profitable for the year.

Shares increased $1.33, more than 11 percent, to $13.34 by early afternoon Friday, peaking earlier in the day at $13.63. That's the stock's highest point since April 2007. Shares had gained 86 percent this year through Thursday's close.