Date Announced: 04 May 2012 Bensenville, Ill. - Rubicon Technology, Inc., a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, RFIC, semiconductor, and optical industries, today provided preliminary financial results for the first quarter, which ended March 31, 2012.The Company reported that it expects revenue for the first quarter of approximately $10 million, in line with its guidance of $8 to $12 million. Rubicon recorded expense of $1.8 million in the quarter associated with scrap and re-work of wafers. The company signed a new contract with its major six-inch wafer customer in February of this year, and this expense is associated with bringing wafers produced prior to the signing of the new contract to the revised specifications defined in the new agreement. Other factors impacting the quarter were a product mix reflecting a greater than expected proportion of lower margin two- through four-inch cores and an additional tax benefit. The company expects to report a loss of approximately $0.15 per share for the quarter, compared with earlier guidance of a loss between $0.10 and $0.14 per share."We anticipated that we would need to rework some of the wafers already produced to meet the new specifications. During the re-work process, some wafers became dimensionally non-compliant and needed to be scrapped," said Raja M. Parvez, President and CEO of Rubicon. "The scrap charge is related only to wafers produced prior to the signing of the new agreement. This is not a problem with new production as these new specifications are well within our standard process capabilities."Regarding the second quarter outlook, Mr. Parvez said, "We are seeing the market begin to rebound in the second quarter with an increase in orders for two- through four-inch sapphire cores and an increase in six-inch wafer sales for both the LED and SoS markets. However, pricing remains low. We expect revenue in the second quarter of $15 to $18 million and a loss per share of $0.10 to $0.14."First Quarter Earnings Release and Conference CallRubicon plans to report financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 after the market closes.In conjunction with the release, management will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. CT) on May 8 to review the financial results. To participate in the conference call, please dial (800) 573-4842 or (617) 224-4327 (international) at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. Callers will need to reference conference ID 94383767#.The conference call will also be webcast live over the Internet and can be accessed at the company's website: http://rubicon-es2.com/index.php?page_id=5 .An audio replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call. The audio replay will remain available until 11:59 p.m. ET (10:59 p.m. CT) May 15, 2012 and can be accessed by dialing (888) 286-8010 or (617) 801-6888 (international). Callers should reference conference ID 41388342#. The webcast will be archived on the Company's website.About Rubicon Technology, Inc.Rubicon Technology, Inc. is an advanced electronic materials provider that is engaged in developing, manufacturing and selling monocrystalline sapphire and other crystalline products for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), blue laser diodes, optoelectronics and other optical applications. The Company applies its proprietary crystal growth technology to produce very high-quality sapphire in a form that allows for volume production of various sizes and orientations of substrates and windows. Rubicon is a vertically-integrated manufacturer with capabilities in crystal growth, high precision core drilling, wafer slicing, surface lapping, large-diameter polishing and wafer cleaning processes, which the Company employs to convert the bulk crystal into products with the quality and precision specified by its customers. The Company is the world leader in larger diameter products to support next-generation LED, RFIC and optical window applications.
Contact
Dee Johnson, VP-Investor Relations 847-457-3426
E-mail:[email protected]
Web Site:www.rubicon-es2.com
