Infinera Corp. continued its often lonely walk on the sunny side of the optical networking street, reporting much-improved revenues for the second quarter and predicting profitability for the third quarter of this year.

Revenues came in at US$138.4 million, a 48 percent improvement compared with a year ago and up by 11 percent from the first quarter of 2013. The net loss after one-time costs (non-GAAP) was $1.2 million. (See Infinera Posts Higher Revenue for Q2.)

The vendor was buoyed in the second quarter by the addition of seven new customers for the DTN-X, its market-leading 100G wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system, including three customers new to Infinera and four existing customers buying the platform for the first time. One of those new customers is an unnamed Tier 1 provider in Europe. (See Infinera Boasts 100G Q1 Lead and Infinera Snags One From NSN).

The company now has 34 customers for the DTN-X.

While Infinera isn't expecting another quarter of significant sequential revenue growth, it does expect to maintain its current sales momentum, forecasting third-quarter revenues in the range of $135 million to $145 million. It also expects to report non-GAAP net income of between $2 million and $9 million, which equates to earnings per share of between 1 cent and 7 cents.

If Infinera achieves that goal, it will be the company's first profitable quarter since the final three months of 2010.

For the full year, Infinera expects to achieve the goal it set at the end of 2012 -- to grow at double the rate of the market, says Mark Showalter, senior director of marketing. That would put its year-on-year revenue growth rate at a minimum of 20 percent.

— Carol Wilson, Editor-at-Large, Light Reading