Why Aspen Aerogels Stock Was Soaring This Week

Shares of Aspen Aerogels (NYSE: ASPN) , a maker of industrial lubricants used to make lithium-ion batteries run longer and for other purposes like insulation, surged this week after the company delivered another round of soaring growth in its second-quarter earnings report, easily beating analyst estimates.

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence , the stock finished the week up 15.7%.

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Aspen's growth catapults again

The primary reason for Aspen's gains this week was surging revenue and profits in its second-quarter report.

Revenue in the quarter jumped 145% to $117.8 million, well ahead of the consensus at $101.4 million. That growth was driven by a surge in the thermal barriers segment, which featured 540% year-over-year revenue growth to $80.8 million. Its PyroThin cell-to-cell barriers help improve safety and performance in lithium-ion batteries and other types of EV batteries and are clearly finding a customer base.

Strength in that segment helped drive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ( EBITDA ) up 124% to $28.9 million, and it posted earnings per share of $0.21, up from a per-share loss of $0.22 in the quarter a year ago and better than estimates at just $0.05.

CEO Don Young said, "This quarter's results demonstrate the significant operating leverage of our business model as we continue to utilize a higher percentage of our current capacity and effectively execute our strategy."

Can Aspen Aerogels keep up the momentum?

Aspen called for strong revenue growth for the full year, but at a slower pace than the second quarter.

It raised its revenue guidance from at least $380 million to at least $390 million, or at least 63% growth. The company also forecast earnings per share of $0.09.

That indicates a substantial slowdown from the first half, but the guidance is likely conservative. If Aspen can deliver more quarters like this, the stock will surely move higher.

Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .