Aircraft-parts manufacturer Triumph Group (TGI: sentiment, chart, options) soared more than 17% higher today, after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and boosted its 2009 guidance. For the quarter, TGI logged a profit of $21.3 million, or $1.26 per share, on a continuing-operations basis. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.04 per share. Looking ahead, the company placed 2009 earnings at $4.85 to $5.05 per share on revenue of $1.25 billion to $1.35 billion. Wall Street is currently targeting a profit of $4.95 per share on revenue of $1.28 billion.

Ahead of the report, investors were extremely bullish toward TGI. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.21 indicates that calls nearly quintuple puts among near-term options. However, the stock has not been optionable for long enough to garner an annual percentage rank. Meanwhile, Zacks.com reports that all 9 analysts following TGI rate the stock a "strong buy." That's quite a bullish outlook, but that didn't stop Stifel Nicolaus from reiterating its "buy" rating and boosting its price target to $105 per share. TGI currently trades near $70-$71 per share.

Only short sellers were betting against the equity, and they are surely feeling the heat today. Despite a 1.8% decline in the number of TGI shares sold short in the most recent reporting period, nearly 16% of the stock's float is sold short. A short-squeeze situation following last night's earnings report may be contributing to today's surge.