Pegasystems Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Pegasystems (NAS: PEGA) soared more than 25% in early trading and remains up more than 18% as of this writing. Second-quarter results beat expectations.

So what: Non-GAAP revenue increased 22% to $104.7 million while adjusted profits zoomed 60% to $0.16 a share from $0.10 in last year's Q2. Analysts were expecting $101.6 million and $0.14 a share, respectively.

Now what: With the rally, Pegasystems now trades for a heady 33 times forward earnings -- noticeably above Wall Street's estimate of 23.5% annualized profit growth over the next five years. Is that a fair premium? You tell me. Weigh in using the comments box below.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorTim Beyersis a member of theMotley Fool Rule Breakersstock-picking team. He didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article at the time of publication. Check out Tim'sportfolio holdingsandFoolish writings, or connect with him onGoogle+or Twitter, where he goes by@milehighfool. You can also get his insightsdelivered directly to your RSS reader.Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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