Cree’s new CEO Gregg Lowe made his Wall Street debut on Tuesday, talking with analysts about his vision for the Durham’based company. The former CEO of Freescale Semiconductor knows he has a big task ahead – and he spelled out three “near term” objectives. Here they are – in his own words.

“This company has a number of opportunities and challenges and I look forward to working with the team to maximize those opportunities while dealing with the challenges head on,” Lowe told analysts in a conference call after Cree reported its most recent earnings, according to a transcript of the call provided by financial news site SeekingAlpha.

Lowe, who replaced the retired Chuck Swoboda last month, said he doesn’t “have all the answers yet. …

“We’re going to work on three things in the near-term:

  • “First evaluating and focusing the strategy and the direction of the company
  • “Second, improving execution in our existing business
  • “Third, engaging the workforce and getting everyone pulling in the same direction.”

So how does he do that?

“[I]t all starts with spending a significant amount of time with our team, customers and partners to gain an insight and to the opportunities and challenges we have.”

Lowe then spelled out four questions he will seek to answer:

“We will evaluate all the areas where we’re investing resources and ask four key questions.

  • “One, what is our unique differentiation
  • “Two, which customers care about this differentiation
  • “Three, what are the dynamics of the market for these customers
  • “Four, can we be a top player.

“After determining which areas have the best opportunity for us to create value, we will focus our efforts and our resources into those areas. In the meantime, each of our three businesses have opportunities to improve execution, driving improvements in areas like gross margin, new product introduction, quality, customer satisfaction and market share.”

Lowe acknowledged the task is large.

“So that’s a lot of work in front of us. We’re not announcing any kind of timeline, … After the process completes, we’ll turn our energy and focus to the strategic direction that gives us the best opportunity to significantly increase shareholder value, grow the business and improve profitability, once the plan is solidified, we’ll let everyone know. “

Read the full transcript of his remarks at:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4114131-crees-cree-ceo-gregg-lowe-q1-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single