DURHAM – A surge in revenues year-over-year and from the previous quarter – especially from its Wolfspeed operation – as well lifted Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) well past Wall Street expectations Tuesday.
The semiconductor, power supply and LED firm topped analysts’ expectations for revenue by more than $9 million, reporting $409 million. That’s 14 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago and a 15 percent increase from the previous quarter this year.
Earnings, meanwhile, came in at 11 cents per share after adjustments. That was 3 cents more than expected, according to business news website SeekingAlpha.
The positive news drew investors who sent Cree shares up immediately more than 3 percent.
Greg Lowe, Cree’s CEO, cited the Wolfspeed power group’s performance as a big driver for the financial showing.
“Wolfspeed, which is our primary growth driver, continued to deliver on its objective of achieving high growth and strong gross margins,” Lowe said in a confernece call with analysts.
“Q4 revenues increased 81% year-on-year, which included the first full quarter of the Infineon RF Power business with organic revenues increasing around 40% year-on-year. Goss margins increased 240 basis points year-on-year as we successfully managed the normal challenges associated with ramping new capacity and integrating the acquired business.
“With the additional growth targeted for Q1, Wolfspeed’s annual revenue run rate is now $0.5 billion.”
Cree’s fiscal year ended June 24. For the year, revenue climbed 1 percent to $1.49 billion. Its net revenue came in at 19 cents a share, or $50 million, which was down sharply from 50 cents in fiscal eyar 2017, the company said.
“Fiscal year 2018 finished with good momentum, with fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings per share that exceeded the top end of our range driven by Wolfspeed growth and gross margin improvement,” Lowe said in a statement. “The demand for Silicon Carbide and GaN technologies continues to grow, as evidenced by the excellent results of our Wolfspeed business. We are expanding our manufacturing footprint and broadening our product portfolio to extend our leadership position in this market and drive growth.”
