Compellent shares soar on results and M&A talk

Rumours still swirling around storage vendor as it unveils record-breaking Q3 results

Market watching: Compellent's shares have been bolstered by M&A and financial reports

Fresh M&A rumours and a record-breaking set of third-quarter results have caused Compellent’s share price to rocket.

The storage vendor’s share price soared by 32 per cent yesterday to $26 (£16) a share following the publication of its financial results.

They revealed that the company’s revenue hit a record $42.1m during Q3, up 15 per cent on the previous quarter.

The vendor’s GAAP net profit of $3.3m was also hailed as its “best ever”.

Phil Soran, chief executive of Compellent, held up the results as proof of how compelling its products are compared with those of its rivals.

“We achieved our best ever quarterly results for revenue and net income thanks to strong execution by our team,” he said.

"Whether deployed for cloud computing or virtual server and desktop infrastructures, Compellent is increasingly the platform of choice for large datacentres."

The firm’s share price received a boost earlier in the week after a report that Compellent has held buyout talks with investment bank Qatalyst Partners. The story led to a 10 per cent share price rise to $19.70, despite Compellent refusing to confirm or deny the talks took place.

Compellent has been dogged by buyout rumours for some time, despite telling CRN last month that it was definitely not for sale.

At the time, the vendor’s product marketing director, Bob Fine, said: “Our goal has always been to be an independent, high-growth company,” he said. “It was never to be in the market for a few years, get acquired and make an exit.”