Westport Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: WPRT) has not had a good performance since the end of October. In fact, its stock before today’s halt ahead of earnings was trying to break an eight-day losing streak. On October 24 the stock was at $29.36 and this one closed down at $23.37 on Wednesday. The belief is that Westport’s low-emission engine and fuel system business may not get the post-election love that investors had previously been hoping for.

So, this Halt for a “News Pending” status likely caught many investors off guard today. Shares were up over 0.8% at $23.57 when shares were halted as 2:45 PM EST and the 52-week trading range is $21.93 to $50.19.

Westport said in its earnings release that the overall market for natural gas transportation is developing with more infrastructure in place by the end of this year. It is also calling for key product launches for the industry, such as the Cummins Westport ISX12 G, edging closer as well as efforts with Ford and others. UPS orders were talked up along with Tata and Caterpillar.

There is just one problem here. While revenues are still very early and while this is still close to a developing-stage company rather than a full operating company, the quarterly consolidated revenues were down 6^ in the third quarter of $2012 from 2011 and came in at $76.1 million. The company’s consolidated gross margin also declined to 27.8% from 31.8%. The net loss per share went to -$0.59 EPS from -$0.27 EPS a year ago.

The good news is that its cash and short-term liquidity were $294.7 million versus $105.6 million a year ago. Here were individual sales comments:

Product revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 was $65.1 million, a decrease of $7.1 million, or 9.8%, from $72.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2011.

Parts revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 was $9.7 million, an increase of $1.2 million, or 14.1%, from $8.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2011. The number of engines in the field, their age and their reliability all impacted parts revenue each period.

Service and other revenue was $1.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 compared with $0.4 million for the same period last year.

Westport has proactively updated its 2012 financial outlook to reflect approximately 30% revenue growth year over year with the consolidated revenue expected to be between $340 and $350 million for the calendar year ended December 31, 2012. Thomson Reuters is calling for $367.9 million in 2012 sales, so this is a lower revenue forecast.

JON C. OGG

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