Finisar 4Q13 a pleasant surprise

Optical component and subsystem developer Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR) finished a down year with a hopeful fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. The company’s revenues exceeded consensus estimates. Finisar even made a profit for the quarter, which ended April 28, 2013.

"I am pleased to report fiscal fourth quarter revenues of $243.4 million, which is $5.1 million, or 2.1%, greater than the prior quarter,” said Jerry Rawls, Finisar's executive chairman of the Board, via a press release. “Our growth in revenues came primarily from sales of 10G and 100G Ethernet transceivers and transponders for datacom applications. Our favorable product mix in the quarter enabled us to achieve gross margin and earnings per diluted share that exceeded our guidance range.

Non-GAAP gross margin was 32.2%, while earnings per diluted share were $0.20. The earnings mark slightly exceeded consensus estimates of $242.6 million; Finisar had guided between $235 million and $250 million.

Despite the fact that 4Q12 was the second upbeat quarter in a row for Finisar (see "Finisar third fiscal quarter results bring more good news"), the news for the full fiscal year was not so pleasant. The company saw revenues decline to $934.3 million from $952.6 million in the preceding year, GAAP gross margin shrink from 28.7% in FY2012 to 27.5%, and GAAP net income decline from a profit of $42.99 million last fiscal year to a loss of $5.6 million.

However, Finisar expects to build on the momentum of the recently concluded six months. It forecasts revenues for 1Q14 of $245 million to $260 million. GAAP operating margin will be in the range of approximately 5.0% to 6.5%, with non-GAAP operating margin between 9.0% and 10.5%, according to management. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share should be in the range of approximately $0.22 to $0.26.

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