Caught something interesting with mercury systems today. Stock ran up over 5% during regular hours, closing near $99, but then completely reversed in after-hours trading and dropped to $84.80. That's a wild swing - basically erased all the gains and then some.

Looking at the financials, Q2 actually showed improvement. Net loss narrowed to $15.10 million versus $17.58 million last year, and adjusted EPS came in at $0.16, beating analyst expectations of $0.06. Mercury also posted quarterly revenues of $232.87 million, up from $223.13 million previously. Bookings hit $288 million with a solid 1.23 book-to-bill ratio.

So the earnings story looks decent on paper, but the market clearly didn't like something in the guidance or commentary during the call. Mercury's after-hours action is a textbook example of how earnings can move different ways - good numbers don't always mean good stock performance, especially if forward outlook is questioned.