Cree Announces Sixteenth Consecutive Quarter of Profitability

Earnings Per Share Rose 150 Percent Total Revenue Increased 82 Percent

Durham, NC. Cree, Inc., (Nasdaq: CREE) today reported record revenue of $33,359,000 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2000, a 13 percent increase, sequentially, and a 82 percent increase over the $18,345,000 reported for the prior year period. Earnings per share rose 150 percent to $0.30, per diluted share, over the $0.12, per diluted share, reported in the comparable period for the prior year (as adjusted for the company s 2-for-1 stock split in July 1999).

Net income increased 183 percent for the quarter to $11,357,000 compared to $4,012,000 reported for the year ago period. Product revenue grew 90 percent on a year-over-year basis, and 15 percent, sequentially. The acquisition of Nitres, Inc. (now Cree Lighting Company), completed on May 1, 2000, was treated as a pooling of interests transaction.

Therefore, the historical operating results of Cree Lighting Company are included for the quarters and years ended June 25, 2000 and June 27, 1999 and all prior periods. Included in the quarter, the company reported a one-time charge associated with the acquisition, which was offset by a gain on the sale of security investments. For the year, the company reported record revenue of $108,562,000, an increase of 74 percent, compared to revenue of $62,401,000 in the prior year. Net income increased 145 percent to $30,520,000, or $0.87 per diluted share, compared to $12,438,000, or $0.41 per diluted share, (as adjusted for the company s 2-for-1 stock split in July 1999) reported for the year ago period.

"This was a year of many accomplishments and Cree s momentum is continuing on every front, including strong earnings growth, a solid balance sheet, novel new technology and emerging product applications. Our research team has made significant progress this year, which presents us with promising opportunities in the years ahead," said Cree s Chairman and CEO Neal Hunter.

In other news, Cree Lighting Company reported that it has demonstrated a near-UV/violet InGaN light emitting diode (LED) with 28% quantum efficiency. This is the highest known external quantum efficiency publicly reported for an LED in the UV-to-blue portion of the wavelength spectrum. The LED emits at 400 nm and has a power output of 17 mW.

LEDs in the UV and near UV spectrum are particularly important for making white solid state light bulbs using phosphors to down convert the wavelength of the light emitter to the visible spectrum, then color mix to make a white bulb. High quantum efficiency is critical to making energy efficient solid state light bulbs. The Cree Lighting emitter demonstrated has overall (wall plug) efficiency of 22%.

Hunter added, "These are impressive results and demonstrate the substantial progress Cree Lighting has made to further improve the efficiency of LEDs. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the lighting industry by enabling solid state light bulbs with high efficiency in the years ahead."

North Carolina-based Cree, Inc. is the world leader in developing and manufacturing semiconductor materials and electronic devices made from silicon carbide (SiC). The company uses proprietary technology to make enabling compound semiconductors such as blue and green LEDs, SiC crystals used in the production of unique gemstones and SiC wafers that are sold for device production and research. Cree has new product initiatives based on its expertise in SiC, including radio frequency and microwave transistors for use in wireless infrastructure applications and radar, blue laser diodes for optical storage applications and high power devices for power conditioning and switching. For more information on Cree, visit http://www.cree.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, such as our ability to integrate acquired businesses with our current operations; the risk our customers may fail to honor contractual commitments; the risk that demand for our products may decrease; the risk of price reductions or other actions by competitors that may impair sales; the risk of manufacturing delays or increased costs due to variability in the complex processes used to manufacture our products; the possibility we may be unable to develop commercial products based on the new device technology described in this release or that we will experience delays or unexpected costs or that the new device technology may not be transferable to a SiC substrate; the risk of intellectual property claims relating to our products, including the risk of an adverse result in currently pending patent litigation; uncertainty whether our intellectual property rights will provide meaningful protection against competitors; the risk posed by concentration of our business among a few customers; 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 27, 1999, subsequent quarterly reports and the registration statement on Form S-3 dated January 3, 2000.

Contact: Fran Barsky, Investor Relations Manager of Cree, Inc. Tel: 919-313-5397 Fax: 919-313-5452