Cree announced its revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, and the results are looking good. Cree's revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 was $315.8 million, a 17% increase, and a 26% net income increase, over the first quarter of fiscal 2012. This also represents a 3% increase in revenue compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.
The $315.8 million falls within Cree's target revenue range set in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, where they aimed for revenue between $305 to $325 million.
Cree released several new products recently, expanding its CR series of LED downlights, creating the XLamp-G2 LED family, and designing a new linear fixture. Cree also has plans to increase its sales and marketing efforts in order to expands its customer base.
Market experts on the Trefis team, a group that analyzes how products impact the stock market, said that higher revenues for a similar cost base could improve Cree's margins as the economy stabilizes. However, Cree's product mix has moved toward lower margin fixtures and competition has become more fierce as LEDs continue to be adopted by traditional incandescent light bulb and CFL technology users. Ultimately the Trefis team expects Cree's margins to remain stable.
“We started the year strong in our fiscal first quarter with record revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share at the high end of our target range,” stated Chuck Swoboda, Cree Chairman and CEO. “Overall company backlog is stronger than it was at this point last quarter, although visibility is still limited and the macroeconomic environment remains a headwind. Our results are beginning to demonstrate the enormous leverage we have in our fully integrated vertical lighting model.”
