EMCORE reports increased first quarter revenues and profits, led by solid fiber optics performance
FEBRUARY 10, 2010 -- EMCORE Corp. in Albuquerque, NM, a provider of compound semiconductor components, subsystems, and systems for fiber optics and solar power, reported an $8 million profit in its first quarter ended 31 Dec. 2009. It was the company's best quarterly profit since June 2008.
EMCORE's first-quarter profit was up 97 percent from a $4.1 million gross profit in the preceding quarter and up $6.4 million from the same quarter last year.
Profits from the company's fiber optics segment were 16.7 percent, up from a 2.5 percent loss in the preceding quarter and a 1.1 percent loss in the prior year period. The improvement in the fiber optics segment came from improved gross margins across most company product lines as well as lower inventory excess and obsolescence charges.
Photovoltaics profits were up 22.1 percent, a decrease from 28.5 percent in the preceding quarter, but an increase from 13.6 percent the same quarter last year.
EMCORE first-quarter revenues were $42.4 million, an increase of $1.9 million, or 5 percent, from $40.5 million the preceding quarter ended September 30, 2009. Fiber optics revenue was $25.6 million, an increase of $1.5 million, or 6 percent, from the preceding quarter, driven by cable television product lines, and accounting for 60 percent of the EMCORE revenue for the last two quarters.
EMCORE executives say they expect quarterly revenues to be $45 million to $47 million by the end of March, with anticipated increases in the fiber optics and photovoltaics segments.