Wolfspeed misses quarterly revenue expectations

DURHAM – Wolfspeed reported quarterly earnings after the close of the stock market on Wednesday, slightly outpacing analysts’ expectations.

While the consensus estimate ahead of the earnings report expected the Durham-headquartered manufacturer of silicon carbide semiconductors to report a net loss of $0.12 per share, the company reported a non-GAAP net loss of $0.11 per share.

But the company reported less revenue than analysts anticipated in the quarter. While quarterly revenues were $216.1 million, according to the company’s financial statement, expectations ranged from a low of $220 million to a high of $264 million prior to the report.

A tracker of Wolfspeed maintained by CNN Business anticipated a loss of $0.13 per share and revenues of $225.3 million, and as of 4 p.m. on Wednesday still rated the company a “buy.”

But following the release of the company’s financials, the stock price fell in after hours trading by nearly 8%, as of 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.

“We are pleased to report another quarter of more than $1 billion of design-ins, highlighting the continued demand for our Silicon Carbide technology,” said Wolfspeed Chief Executive Officer, Gregg Lowe, in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. “Though there has been some demand pressure on 5G that has impacted our RF product line, our power devices continue to penetrate more of the market, with strong customer demand and new partnerships with large multinational auto manufacturers, such as Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes, and automotive Tier-1s, such as BorgWarner and ZF.”

The company announced the deal with Mercedes earlier this year.

Wolfspeed salutes cofounder John Palmour with endowed professorship, names new plant in his honor

‘Great strides’ on financing and facility development

In addition to partnerships with automotive manufacturers, Wolfspeed is in the early stages of construction on a $5 billion semiconductor wafer fabrication facility in Chatham County.

“During the quarter we made great strides in both financing and facility development. We closed on a convertible note offering of $1.75 billion, which will directly support our expansion efforts, while continuing to make progress on the construction of the new materials factory in Siler City, North Carolina and the ramp of our Mohawk Valley device fab,” said Lowe.

The company’s Mohawk Valley facility is expected to deliver positive revenue for Wolfspeed in the second half of the 2023 fiscal year, noted Lowe. “We are in the final stages of scaling production,” he added. “We remain on a trajectory to meet this target, but that will largely depend on both our ability to complete qualifications and ramp up the supply of 200mm wafers, which we believe we will achieve.”

The company recently hosted potential vendors to the Chatham County facility and celebrated the life and legacy of company co-founder John Palmour, for whom the new North Carolina facility will be named.

In addition to releasing earnings on Wednesday, the company announced that it had appointed Stacy Smith, the executive chairman of Kioxia Corporation and non-executive chair of the board of directors at Autodesk, Inc., to its board of directors.

“With his vast experience in the technology and semiconductor industries, Stacy will be an invaluable asset for Wolfspeed as we work to capitalize on the steepening demand for Silicon Carbide power devices across the e-mobility, industrial and renewable markets,” said Wolfspeed Chairman of the Board Darren Jackson in a statement.