Cree – soon to be Wolfspeed – revenue tops expectations, loss is not as bad as forecast

DURHAM – Cree Inc. (CREE) on Wednesday reported a loss of $83 million in its fiscal second quarter. Big news came later when CEO Gregg Lowe announced he was changing the name of the company to Wolfspeed. 

On a per-share basis, the Durham-based company said it had a loss of 75 cents. Losses, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 24 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 25 cents per share.

The semiconductor manufacturer posted revenue of $127 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $121.6 million.

“We delivered strong results for the second quarter, including sequential growth in revenue from continuing operations, underscoring the momentum we continue to see for our silicon carbide solutions,” Lowe said in a statement. “While we continue to confront some of the challenges associated with the broader macroenvironment, we continue to invest for the future to support several growth opportunities across multiple sectors.”

For the current quarter ending in April, Cree expects its results to range from a loss of 25 cents per share to a loss of 21 cents per share.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $127 million to $133 million for the fiscal third quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $128.2 million.

Cree shares have dropped 3% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $102.46, more than doubling in the last 12 months.

Cree says its “Wolfspeed product families include silicon carbide materials, power-switching devices and RF devices targeted for applications such as electric vehicles, fast charging inverters, power supplies, telecom and military and aerospace. Cree’s LED product families include blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs and lighting-class power LEDs targeted for indoor and outdoor lighting, video displays, transportation and specialty lighting applications.”