** Shares of customer engagement software firm Verint Systems rise ~22% to $31.65 premarket
** On Wednesday, VRNT's Q3 sales of $224.2 mln beat analysts' est of $210.1 mln, according to LSEG data, helped by strong AI momentum in its bundled software as a service products
** Co's Q3 profit of 54 cents/shr beats est. of 43 cents/shr
** Brokerage TD Cowen says it expects VRNT to "achieve rule-of-40 performance", referring to combination of revenue growth and profit margins to meet or exceed a total of 40%
** As of last close, stock has fallen 3.9% YTD
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru)
((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;))