Thursday, October 25, 2012

CREE Drops 7%: FYQ2 Misses, Q3 View Weak

Shares of light-emitting diode technology developer Cree (CREE) are down 85 cents, or 3.6%, at $22.48 down $1.69, or 7%, at $21.64 in late trading after the company this afternoon reported fiscal Q2 revenue and earnings per share below analysts’ expectations, and forecast profit per share for the current quarter below consensus.

Revenue in the three months ended December 25th rose 18%, year over year, to $304.1 million, yielding EPS of 25 cents, excluding some costs. Analysts had been modeling $309.9 million and 26 cents per share.

Gross profit margin in the quarter, as a percentage of sales, fell from 47.7% a year earlier to 35.3%. In the current quarter, the company sees gross margin of 35% to 36%.

For the current quarter, the company sees revenue in a range of $290 million to $310 million, and profit per share of18 cents to 25 cents, versus the consensus $321 million and 30 cents per share.

CEO Chuck Swoboda said the “business environment remains challenging,” but that “our results demonstrate that our strategy is working.”

Cree will hold a conference call with analysts at 5 pm, Eastern, this afternoon, and you can catch the Webcast here.

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