Reuters: Hot Stocks: UPDATE 1-LED maker Cree forecasts disappointing profit; shares fall

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UPDATE 1-LED maker Cree forecasts disappointing profit; shares fall Oct 22nd 2013, 22:46 Share this Email Print Reprints Tue Oct 22, 2013 6:46pm EDT * Expects adj 2nd-quarter profit $0.36-$0.41 per share * Expects 2nd-quarter revenue $400 mln-$420 mln * Expects 2nd-quarter operating expenses to rise by $5.5 mln * Shares fall 15 pct in extended trading (Adds details, analyst comment; updates share move) Oct 22 (Reuters) - Cree Inc, a maker of light-emitting diodes, forecast current-quarter earnings below analysts' average estimate as it expects higher marketing expenses for its LED bulb, sending its shares down about 15 percent in extended trading. Cree expects second-quarter operating expenses to increase by about $5.5 million. The company said it expects earnings of 36 cents to 41 cents per share. Analysts expected 44 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. "Gross margin guidance was weaker than expected due to a faster-than-expected ramp of lower-margin LED bulbs at Home Depot," Sterne Agee & Leach analyst Andrew Huang said. Cree, which sells LED bulbs that lasts 25 times longer than a regular bulb, has been selling the product through a retail partnership with Home Depot Inc. Cree's net income almost doubled to $30.5 million, or 25 cents per share, in the first quarter ended Sept. 29, from $16.1 million, or 14 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned 39 cents per share, in line with average estimate. Revenue rose 24 percent to $391 million, missing the estimated $392.3 million. The North Carolina-based company's shares, which have more than doubled this year, fell to $62.90 in extended trading. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar, Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr and Don Sebastian) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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