Wolfspeed, formerly Cree, is located in central North Carolina which is culturally and politically a world away from hurricane-Helene-ravaged western North Carolina.
From Reuters, October 15:
Wolfspeed is set to receive $750 million in government grants for its new North Carolina silicon carbide wafer manufacturing plant facility, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday, sending the U.S. chipmaker's shares up 10% before the bell.
The preliminary funding agreement requires Wolfspeed "to take additional steps to strengthen its balance sheet to better protect taxpayer funds", it said.Wolfspeed said investment funds led by Apollo Global Management the Baupost Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Capital Group have agreed to provide an additional $750 million of new financing.The company, which counts General Motors and Mercedes-Benz among its customers, makes chips using silicon carbide, a more energy-efficient material than standard silicon, that are used in tasks such as transmitting power from an electric vehicle's batteries to its motors.The department said Wolfspeed's devices are used for renewable energy systems, industrial uses and artificial intelligence applications.Wolfspeed plans to expand its silicon carbide device manufacturing facility in Marcy, New York, and increase its production capacity by nearly 30%. Both projects are part of its previously announced $6 billion capacity expansion plan.The company said the investments support Wolfspeed's long-term growth plans and added it expects to receive $1 billion of cash tax refunds from the "48D" advanced manufacturing tax credit under the Chips and Science Act....
In pre-market trade the stock is up $3.01 (+26.41%) at $14.39.
On the former company (the name-change wasn't just cosmetic, there was a six year transformation):
Why Is The Flashlight On Your Phone So Bright? (plus a Donald Trump lawyer)
They have blue.
Creators Of Blue-Light LEDs Win Nobel Prize In Physics
In a May 2008 post, "LEDs: Venture capitalists see the light (CREE)" I mentioned how I came to know LED's:
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.Blue is important.
Cree went from $3 to $93....
These days CREE is back around $33.
From cnet:
Efficient, useful blue-light LED draws Nobel Prize in physics
Three researchers helped revolutionize lighting with vastly better energy efficiency and brightness. The light-emitting diodes also are used in data storage, TVs, and smartphones.....
Well, CREE changed their name a couple years ago, the patents have long expired and the stock (new symbol: WOLF) is at $32.53 after hitting ~$141.87 around the time of the name-change.
Here's thirty years of stock action via BigCharts:
What a long strange trip...
