Exhibit 99.01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | NEWS RELEASE |
| Contact: | Fran Barsky | |
Manager, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Cree, Inc. (T) 919-313-5397 (F) 919-313-5615 Fran_Barsky@Cree.com | ||
CREE REPORTS FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR
FIRST QUARTER FISCAL YEAR 2004
Record Revenue Grew 36% Over Prior Year Period
Earnings Per Share Increased 140 Percent Over Prior Year Period
Durham, NC, October 16, 2003 – Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) today announced revenue of $66,211,000 for the first quarter of fiscal 2004, representing a 36 percent increase over the company’s comparable year ago period revenue of $48,811,000. Operating income increased 211 percent to $11,974,000 compared to $3,847,000 reported in the comparable prior year period. Net income for the first quarter was $8,879,000, or $0.12 per share, compared to $3,883,000, or $0.05 per share, as reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2003.
Chuck Swoboda, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cree stated, “Once again, Cree delivered a solid quarter with revenue exceeding our expectations. We continue to experience strong demand for our LED products for use in mobile appliances and other backlighting applications. Going forward, we remain committed to making the investments necessary to drive long-term product innovation to enable new and existing applications which incorporate our silicon carbide (SiC) and group III nitride (GaN) technology.”
Cree, Inc. will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today to review the highlights of the first quarter fiscal 2004 results. The conference call will be available to the public through a live audio web broadcast via the Internet. Log onto Cree’s website atwww.cree.com and go to “News & Investor—Overview” for webcast details. The call will be archived and available on the website through October 30, 2003.
Cree is an advanced semiconductor company that leverages its expertise in silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon (Si) materials technology to produce new
and enabling semiconductors. The products include blue, green and near ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs), near UV lasers, radio frequency (RF) and microwave devices, and power switching devices. Targeted applications for these products include solid state illumination, optical storage, wireless infrastructure and power switching. For more information on Cree, please visitwww.cree.com.
The schedules attached to this release are an integral part of this release. This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including risks associated with our pending securities and other litigation, such as the considerable management time and attention required and substantial expenses incurred regardless of its outcome and the potential impact of an adverse result of the lawsuits filed against us and certain named executives and directors. In addition, the SEC has requested that we provide information in response to an informal inquiry. The outcome of the SEC inquiry could adversely affect our operations and financial statements, including the results announced today. Furthermore, we are subject to risks associated with the production ramp-up for our new products; the risk that we will be unable to manufacture products with sufficiently low cost to offer them at competitive prices or with acceptable margins; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render our products obsolete; the potential lack of customer acceptance for the products; and other factors discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 29, 2003 and subsequent reports filed with the Commission.
Cree and the Cree logo are registered trademarks of Cree, Inc.
— Tables Follow —
CREE, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share data)
| Three Months Ended | ||||||
| 09/28/2003 | 09/29/2002 | |||||
| (Unaudited) | (Unaudited) | |||||
Product revenue | $ | 59,163 | $ | 42,154 | ||
Contract revenue | 7,048 | 6,657 | ||||
Total revenue | 66,211 | 48,811 | ||||
Cost of product sales | 32,503 | 25,117 | ||||
Cost of contract sales | 5,492 | 4,989 | ||||
Total cost of sales | 37,995 | 30,106 | ||||
Gross profit | 28,216 | 18,705 | ||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||
Research and development | 8,327 | 6,564 | ||||
Sales, general and administrative | 7,912 | 7,825 | ||||
Severance expense | — | 400 | ||||
Other expense | 3 | 69 | ||||
Income from operations | 11,974 | 3,847 | ||||
Other non operating income | 2 | — | ||||
Net interest income | 892 | 1,400 | ||||
Income before income taxes | 12,868 | 5,247 | ||||
Income taxes | 3,989 | 1,364 | ||||
Net income | $ | 8,879 | $ | 3,883 | ||
Net income per share, diluted | $ | 0.12 | $ | 0.05 | ||
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding, basic | 74,174 | 72,747 | ||||
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding, diluted | 75,754 | 74,460 | ||||
CREE, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)
| Balance Sheet | ||||||||
| 09/28/2003 | ||||||||
| (Unaudited) | 06/29/2003 | |||||||
Assets: | ||||||||
Current assets: | ||||||||
Cash & equivalents & short term investments | $ | 137,123 | $ | 140,037 | ||||
Accounts receivable, net | 57,659 | 43,901 | ||||||
Inventory | 16,225 | 17,674 | ||||||
Current portion of deferred taxes | 1,964 | 1,863 | ||||||
Other current assets & prepaid expenses | 5,020 | 5,880 | ||||||
Total current assets | 217,991 | 209,355 | ||||||
Property, plant & equipment, net | 256,955 | 251,346 | ||||||
Long-term investments held to maturity | 57,997 | 58,794 | ||||||
Long term portion deferred income taxes | 16,952 | 20,934 | ||||||
Patents and license rights, net | 10,553 | 7,146 | ||||||
Other assets | 15,885 | 16,119 | ||||||
Total assets | $ | 576,333 | $ | 563,694 | ||||
Liabilities & Shareholders’ Equity: | ||||||||
Current liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable trade | $ | 15,272 | $ | 14,916 | ||||
Accrued salaries & other expenses | 9,563 | 7,843 | ||||||
Deferred revenue | 7,132 | 5,533 | ||||||
Total current liabilities | 31,967 | 28,292 | ||||||
Long term liabilities: | ||||||||
Other long term liabilities | — | 31 | ||||||
Total long term liabilities | — | 31 | ||||||
Shareholders’ Equity: | ||||||||
Common stock | 92 | 92 | ||||||
Additional paid in capital | 526,627 | 526,318 | ||||||
Deferred compensation | (113 | ) | (218 | ) | ||||
Retained earnings | 18,060 | 9,179 | ||||||
Total shareholders’ equity | 544,666 | 535,371 | ||||||
Total liabilities & shareholders’ equity | $ | 576,633 | $ | 563,694 | ||||
CREE, INC.
Operating Segment Information
(in thousands)
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||
09/28/2003 (Unaudited) | 09/29/2002 (Unaudited) | |||||||
Revenue: | ||||||||
Cree* | $ | 65,160 | $ | 48,111 | ||||
Cree Microwave | 1,051 | 700 | ||||||
Total revenue | $ | 66,211 | $ | 48,811 | ||||
Net income (loss) before income taxes: | ||||||||
Cree* | $ | 16,271 | $ | 10,518 | ||||
Cree Microwave | (3,403 | ) | (5,271 | ) | ||||
Total net income (loss) before income taxes | $ | 12,868 | $ | 5,247 | ||||
| * | Includes interest income and other segment operating results |
