Shares in Durham-based Cree soar in after-hours trading nearly $5 per share after the LED and semiconductor manufacturer reports strong earnings.
Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) jumped to nearly $38 a share in the early moments after the report, which was issued when the markets closed at 4 p.m.
Just before 5 p.m., shares were up $4.93 at $38.40.
The surge sent Cree well beyond its 52-week high of $35.12 per share. The stock’s 52-week low is $22.25.
The last time Cree topped $35 was on Dec. 13 at $35.09.
“Fiscal Q2 was another strong quarter with record revenue and earnings per share that were higher than our target range due to stronger sales in both LEDs and Lighting combined with improved gross margins,” said Chuck Swoboda, Cree’s chairman and CEO. “Overall company backlog is in line with seasonal trends for our fiscal Q3. Longer term, we remain focused on driving adoption through innovation, and with our broad understanding of the technology levers from materials through systems, we see opportunities to move the market even faster than what has been experienced to date.”
Cree revenues surged 14 percent to $346.3 million from a year ago. The total topped Wall Street analysts forecasts by some $15 million.
Profits came in at 32 centers per share, 2 cents higher than expected.
Cree also issued a revenue forecast for the current quarter of $325 million to $345 million. That topped Street expectations of $322.5 million.
