US LED maker Cree has announced revenue of $103.9 million for its fiscal first quarter ended September 24, 2006. Net income was $13.3 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, down considerably from $21.7 million in the same period last year.
The company's LED revenue for the quarter was $82.64 million, compared with $85.14 million in the previous quarter. In the same period last year, LED revenue was $84.62 million. In the September 2006 quarter, 36% of revenue came from high-brightness products and the rest from mid-brightness LEDs (as defined by Cree).
Although LED revenue was the lowest for several quarters, LED units shipments were up 10% sequentially and up 32% year on year. This reflects the blended average selling price (ASP) of Cree's LEDs, which fell 11% sequentially and 26% year on year.
Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO, says that short-term market conditions remain challenging. However, he said, "we continue to make outstanding progress towards our goal of enabling LEDs to become a cost-effective, energy-saving alternative for lighting applications."
Swoboda highlighted the recently introduced EZBright(TM)1000 LED power chip and the latest XLamp® 7090 power LED as establishing a new class of performance by dramatically increasing the light output and efficiency provided by LEDs.
Cree's gross profit was 41% of revenue, and its operating profit was 16% of revenue. Other recent business highlights included Cree's acquisition of Intrinsuc Semiconductor, a manufacturer of silicon carbide wafers.
For its second quarter of fiscal 2007, Cree is targeting revenue in a range of $105 million to $109 million with earnings of $0.14 to $0.17 per diluted share.
