Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Cree 1Q Profit Surges On Higher Rev, Margins; Sees Strong 2Q (CREE)

The stock is trading up 10% at 45 and change.
From our May '08 post "LEDs: Venture capitalists see the light (CREE)":
About ten years ago the best stockpicker I know told me he was looking at CREE. The pitch was "They have 'blue'". I didn't pay much attention, the Nasdaq was starting it's blow-off run, from around 1500 to 5048 in 18 months.
Cree went from $3 to $93.
Today's earnings, via the Wall Street Journal:

Cree Inc.'s (CREE) fiscal first-quarter profit more than tripled on surging margins and revenue as the semiconductor and light-emitting-diode company easily topped estimates.

The company also projected fiscal second-quarter results of 28 cents to 30 cents, excluding items, on revenue of $180 million to $190 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters projected 23 cents and $173 million, respectively.

Shares grew 2% to $42 in after-hours trading. The stock has more than doubled this year.

Cree, which makes chips used in LEDs and communications products, has been resilient amid the recession. Earlier this month, the company said it planned to expand its North Carolina LED factory, and it plans to add 575 jobs by the end of 2012....MORE

Previously:

Jan. '09: CREE: Trades Like a Bank Stock (but with earnings)

Aug. '09: CREE Rocks Today; JASO, SOL, LDK Reports Make Tomorrow Key For Solars