Shares in LED and semiconductor manufacturer Cree jumped some 22 percent Wednesday to a new 52-week high of $41.20 in the wake of a strong earnings report on Tuesday.
One analyst firm, Stifel, raises its share target price to $41 and reiterated its “Buy” rating. Another, Oppenheimer, raised its Cree target to $42.
Buyers listened,
Trading was heavy with more than 14 million shares, or close to 10 times times the daily average, trading hands.
Shares dropped slightly from the new high to close at $40.85.
The buying frenzy started Tuesday moments after Cree beat Street expectations for earnings and revenues in its quarterly financial report.
Shares had closed at $33.47 Tuesday then opened Wednesday at $38.35.
Just before 5 p.m. Tuesday, 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.”
In a conference call{/a}} with analysts, Swoboda said the company reported growth in multiple areas.
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.
