Ariba shares soar on solid 2Q

The stock surged $1.87, or 20 percent, to $11.03, after peaking at $11.13 earlier in the day. Over the past 52 weeks, the company's shares have traded between $8.26 and $13.30, and are off nearly 18 percent since the start of the year.

For the quarter ended March 31, Ariba posted a loss of $12.4 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with a loss of $5.1 million, or 7 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding one-time charges, the company posted an adjusted profit of $6.9 million, or 9 cents per share, up from an adjusted profit of $7.1 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 9.7 percent to $80.5 million from $73.4 million in the year-ago period. Excluding a purchase accounting adjustment, the company posted adjusted revenue of $82.8 million for the recent quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 8 cents per share, excluding one-time charges, on $81.5 million in revenue.

Deutsche Bank's Greg Dunham backed his "Buy" rating and $16 price target for Ariba, citing the solid second-quarter results.

"We believe second quarter could represent a turning point for the stock and see meaningful appreciation in the next six months on execution to guidance alone," Dunham wrote in a note to investors.