Interactive Intelligence shares jump on outlook

(Reuters) - Shares of the business software company Interactive Intelligence Inc (ININ.O) jumped as much as 20 percent on Tuesday, a day after the company forecast second-quarter results ahead of market expectations.

The company, which provides call center software and IP telephony products, received three orders worth more than $1 million each and several other smaller orders during the quarter.

"Strategically, we still view the company as a strong market share taker in a mature call center software market that has two somewhat struggling large competitors in Nortel and Avaya," Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt wrote in a note to clients.

Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks (NRTLQ.PK) (NT.TO) recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

The analyst, who sees an improving demand environment for Interactive Intelligence, said the stock still appears "cheap for a market share gaining growth company".

According to Reuters data, the stock trades at a multiple of about 21 times the company's forward earnings compared with the application software sector which trades at a multiple of 26 times.

McCourt has an "outperform" rating on the stock.

Interactive Intelligence expects earnings of 22 cents to 26 cents a share, excluding items, for the second quarter, topping analysts' expectation of 14 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

The company, which recently acquired privately-held AcroSoft Corp, expects revenue to be between $32 million and $34 million, a 5 to 11 percent growth as compared with the previous year. Analysts expect the company to report revenue of $29.78.

Shares of the Indianapolis-based company were touched a new 52-week high of $15.68 in the morning trade on Nasdaq. They later pared some gains to trade at $15.31.

(Reporting by Manasi Phadke in Bangalore, Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)