- Though Cray (CRAY -1.7%) beat Q2 estimates, it's guiding for Q3 revenue of $125M, below a $156.9M consensus.
- Cray, whose quarterly sales can swing wildly due to the timing of a few deals, still expects 2014 revenue of ~$600M (consensus is at $599.4M), but cautions "a wide range of results remain possible." 56% of the company's 2014 revenue is expected in Q4.
- On the CC (transcript), Cray noted $10M in sales previously expected in Q3 were pulled into Q2 (driving the revenue beat). It also stated Q3 results are "expected to be dependent on a few significant customer acceptances that are likely to come down to -- late in the quarter."
- At the same time, management struck an upbeat tone about Cray's ability to grab share from top supercomputer rival IBM, both due to the pending sale of IBM's x86 server unit to Lenovo and the lack of a refresh for its Blue Gene supercomputer line.
- The company also talked up its efforts to boost Sonexion storage sales by integrating more proprietary IP. Seagate's Xyratex unit is an OEM partner.
- Interestingly, peer SGI (SGI +8.5%) is up sharply. SGI's FQ4 report is due on Aug. 6; 11% of the company's float was shorted as of July 15.