WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Shares of Cree Inc. (CREE) dropped over 6 percent in extended hours on Tuesday after the lighting company reported a fourth-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates and issued a weak outlook for the first quarter.
The Durham, North Carolina-based maker of lighting and semiconductor products reported a fourth-quarter loss of $10.6 million or $0.11 per share, narrower than last year's loss of $88.1 million or $0.83 per share.
Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.19 per share, up from a loss of $0.19 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.20 per share for the quarter.
Revenues for the quarter rose 2 percent to $388.4 million from $382.2 million last year. Analyst had a consensus revenue estimate of $385.8 million.
Gross margins for the quarter improved to 29.1 percent from 20.1 percent a year ago.
'Fiscal 2016 was a year of progress towards our goal to build a more focused and valuable LED lighting technology company,' stated Chuck Swoboda, Cree Chairman and CEO. 'We successfully restructured the LED business, improved commercial lighting fundamentals, refocused our consumer business on premium LED bulbs, and unlocked significant value with the agreement to sell Wolfspeed.'
Looking forward to the first quarter, Cree expects adjusted earnings of $0.10 to $0.16 per share and revenues of $310 million to $330 million. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.22 per share on revenues of $397.57 million.
Last month, Cree agreed to sell its Wolfspeed power division to Infineon for $850 million in cash.
CREE closed Tuesday's trading at $27.48, down $0.56 or 2.00%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further dropped $1.69 or 6.15% in the after-hours trade.
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