Cray reports Q2, posts loss

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HPC stalwart Cray Inc. reported results for its  second fiscal quarter

Cray logo…[Cray] announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010. Revenue for the quarter was $28.7 million compared to $62.7 million in the prior year period. The company reported a net loss for the quarter of ($6.6 million) or ($0.19) per share compared to net income of $3.4 million or $0.10 per share in the second quarter of 2009.

And the news is worse for the half year

…revenue for the six-month period ending June 30, 2010 was $57.1 million compared with $137.2 million in the prior year period. For the first half of the year, total operating expenses were $35.9 million compared to $45.4 million in the prior year period. Net loss was ($18.2 million) or ($0.53) per share for the first half of 2010 compared to a net loss of ($1.5 million) or ($0.04) per share in the prior year period.

None of this is a surprise, of course. Cray is a company holding its breath as it launches the new XE6 line of supers and new silicon. Those systems just started shipping out to customers, beginning their various acceptance processes. Once accepted they can be revenued and counted in the company’s favor.

“I remain very excited about our 2010 prospects, led by a number of significant wins and continued strength in custom engineering,” said Peter Ungaro, president and CEO of Cray. “We also just achieved a major milestone as we are now shipping our groundbreaking Cray XE6 supercomputers, many to new customers, and are in the midst of one of the largest production ramps in our history….”

According to large systems boss Barry Bolding when I talked with him at the end of June, the backlog of XE6 business is not all huge deals. This mix of orders increases the likelihood that Cray can get to some level of success this year, even if it has trouble with systems at the very high end (which is not uncommon). Quoting Bolding from that earlier article

“This puts us in a totally different situation financially than we were in in 2008 when ORNL’s 200 cabinet system was the make-or-break deal for us.”

In order for Cray to do well this year — they are hoping to turn a profit — they’ll have to ship and revenue $250M worth of systems. Not impossible, but certainly hard.

Comments

  1. I thought you said Pete was turning this ship around? It is always next quarter or year, i.e.
    “I remain very excited about our 2010 prospects, led by a number of significant wins and continued strength in custom engineering,” President and CEO Peter Ungaro said in a statement. “While we still have a lot of work left to do, I’m confident we are on track to deliver a strong year.”

    I wish my boss would let me miss my numbers with excuses like Pete!!

  2. John West says

    As I said: not impossible, but certainly hard. I’d like to think of myself as cautiously optimistic.

  3. Well sooner or later they will have a good quarter or year so you are bound to be hit the mark!!

  4. Fair enough, Frank. Fair enough.