Shares of e-mail security solutions provider, Zix Corp. (Nasdaq: ZIXI) surged more than 10 percent from Monday’s closing price in morning trading on Tuesday.

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2010, Zix Corp. reported net income of 4 cents per share, up 196 percent from earnings of a penny per share in the third quarter of 2009. Sales increased 15 percent to $9 million, compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Among the highlights from the quarter were a deal to provide secure email to the The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), a new, three-year contract with a Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) organization that replaced a competitor’s solution, and continued growth in the financial services industry, where Zix has more than 1,400 customers.

“With the increase in demand for secure email for customer privacy and to meet regulatory compliance standards, ZixCorp finds itself in a good position,” said Rick Spurr, Chairman and CEO of Zix Corp. in a statement.

A recent article by the Motley Fool stated “Zix’s losses have been steadily narrowing for years, and now it’s both earnings- and cash flow-positive. That’s a good sign if the company’s business model attracts you at all.”

Zix reported 2.2 million in new first year orders for Q3,”which represents the strongest third quarter in the company’s history, and among the best sales performance we have seen in any quarter in our history,” Spurr said in a conference call with analysts. “That success is driven by strong performance across our three core verticals, health care, finance and government. This broad-based demand results from general heightened awareness of the need for Email Encryption as part of an overall IT security strategy, plus the customers’ recognition of our differentiated, world-class service offering.”

For the full-year 2010, the Company is reaffirming its previously issued revenue guidance and increasing its adjusted non-GAAP earnings to be between $0.11 and $0.12, per fully diluted share.

Shares of Zix Corp. are up about 55 percent over the past three months.