Lidar maker Ouster delivered better-than-expectedfirst-quarter salesand solid guidance for the second quarter. Investors were pleased.

Thursday evening Ouster announced first-quarter sales of about $33 million. Wall Street was looking for $31 million, according to FactSet. Sales jumped 26% year over year. It was the ninth consecutive quarter of sales growth.

The company expects second-quarter sales of $32 to $35 million. Wall Street projects $33.6 million. The $33.5 midpoint of company guidance implies a rise of almost 20% from the second quarter of 2024.

Shares were up almost 10% at $9.47 in after-hours trading.

For the quarter, the adjusted Ebitda loss was $8 million. Ebitda is short for earning before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Wall Street forecast a loss of $12 million.

Ouster isn’t profitable yet. It ended the quarter with $171 million on the balance sheet. Wall Street projects cash use of about $95 million in 2025 and 2026 combined. Analysts project positive full-year Ebitda by 2025.

Lidar is essentially laser-based radar. It can function as the eyes for cars, machines, and infrastructure that are adopting AI to make life better. CEO Angus Pacala says smart infrastructure markets are particularly strong right now.

Smart infrastructure can mean the inductive loops that know when a car pulls into a left turn lane so the traffic light knows to use the advanced left turn signal.

That technology knows if there are one or two cars ready to turn left. “They don’t measure that there’s 20 lined up in the left turn lane,” says Pacala. That’s the kind of solution lidar-enabled AI can deliver for cities. “You will feel the benefit…there’s far less congestion…you can deploy the technology much cheaper than digging up the road and putting in those loops.”

Less congestion and faster left turns are AI applications drivers can get behind.

Ouster shares gained 6.9% in regular trading Thursday, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.58% and 0.62%, respectively.

President Donald Trump’s trade deal with the U.K. appeared to help many stocks by demonstrating some light at the end of the tariff tunnel.

As for Ouster, it manufactures in Thailand, so it faces a 10% import levy, something Pacala says is manageable.

Through Thursday trading, Ouster stock was down about 29% year to date. Tariffs and macroeconomic fears have weighed on investor sentiment.