Flash-based storage vendor Fusion-io held its second ever earnings call yesterday, reporting some impressive year-over-year growth. The company reported GAAP revenue of $74.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, a 175 percent increase compared to 27.0 million just a year earlier.  Profit was also up at  $7.2 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $5.8 million, or $0.46 per share, in the first quarter of 2011.

Non-GAAP earnings have also seen an improvement, rising to $15.1 million in revenue compared to a net loss of $4.9 million. In addition, the margin went up from 43 percent to  63.3 percent.

“The acceleration of cloud computing and virtualization is only exacerbating this challenge for IT departments around the globe. We believe we are well positioned to lead the transformation in data delivery by helping organizations deliver the right data, to the right application, at the right time, and doing so with a compelling return on investment.”

It seems that Barron’s shares a similar mindset about the company, at least on the financial side of things. The publication selected Fusion-io as the stock of the year, ahead of companies like Oracle, Hewlett-Packard and even Apple. Barron’s forecasted that the stock may rise to $52 in the next year, which (along with an expectation of a potential takeover) drove shares up to an after-hour high of over $32.

Analysts and shareholders alike have been looking forward to this latest call, which will arguably play a role in the company’s near term outlook.

Fusion-io has established a strong position in the flash market thanks to an aggressive strategy that combines hardware and software. It has picked up a lot of momentum, and so has the rest of the market. Competitor Violin memory is making gains as well, and has a rather interesting market approach.