Supercomputer company Cray expects its 2012 revenue to be in line with its previous predictions. The firm has also bumped its 2013 revenue guidance to US$500m, expecting a profitable year.

Cray CEO and President Peter Ungaro said 2012 was a record year for the company.

"The year was highlighted by the installations of both the largest system in our Company's history and our largest commercial win ever, and by the building momentum in our storage and Big Data initiatives,” Ungaro said.

“We completed the acceptance process on the Blue Waters supercomputer at the University of Illinois, but were not able to complete the upgrade to the XK7 system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We now expect to complete the Oak Ridge acceptance during the first half of 2013 and have increased our outlook accordingly." 

Cray said based on preliminary results, its total revenue for 2012 is expected to be about $420m.

For 2012, gross margins are expected to be approximately 36%, slightly higher than previously provided guidance, and total operating expenses are expected to be about $120 million, consistent with previously provided guidance.

Total operating expenses for 2012 will depend on the final accounting treatment of the Appro acquisition and includes estimates of approximately $7 million in stock based compensation and acquisition related expenses.

Based on these preliminary results, the Company expects to be solidly profitable for 2012, independent of the $139 million pre-tax gain on the development program divestiture completed during the second quarter.

As of Dec. 31, 2012, cash and investments are expected to total about $320 million.

While a wide range of results remains possible for 2013, the company now expects 2013 revenue to be about $500m.

Cray said revenue is expected to ramp during 2013 with about $60m in the first quarter and roughly 45% of the annual revenue expected in the fourth quarter. Gross margins for 2013 are anticipated to be in the mid-30% range.

Total operating expenses for the year are expected to be in the range of $160m, which includes approximately $10m in non-cash items including stock based compensation and the preliminary estimate of amortization of items related to the Appro acquisition.

Corrected: An earlier version of this article erroniously stated that Cray's acquisition of Appro had resulted in lower 2012 revenue guidance. DatacenterDynamics FOCUS regrets the error.