News Article
Rubicon revenues rocket 69.7%
Like other substrate manufacturers, Rubicon has reported strong first quarter 2011 results, which have increased sequentially as well as compared to last year.
Rubicon Technology, a provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, RFIC, Semiconductor, and Optical industries, has reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2011.
Revenuesrose to $38 million, up 29 % sequentially and a massive 69.7% over the same quarter last year. Gross margin was 63 % while operating margin reached 53 %. Diluted earnings per share increased $0.16 sequentially to $0.80.
Commenting on the results, Raja Parvez, President and CEO said, "I am very pleased with our exceptional start to the new year and believe that 2011 will be a very productive year in terms of financial performance, extending our technological leadership, and expanding our customer base worldwide."
The Company's revenue increased 29 % sequentially to $38 million driven by robust demand from the LED market. The Company continues to add capacity in order to serve this rapidly growing market. Parvez continued, "Our customer base continues to grow and we are aggressively adding capacity to meet their needs."
The Company reported continued strong interest for its polished six inch wafers. Parvez continued, "While we were capacity constrained in the first quarter, we expect a significant increase in revenue from six inch polished wafer sales in the second quarter."
Second Quarter 2011 Guidance
Commenting on the outlook for the second quarter of 2011, William Weissman, Rubicon's Chief Financial Officer said, "We expect continued strong demand resulting in revenue increasing to between $40 million and $43 million. We have projected overall substrate pricing in the second quarter to be slightly lower than first quarter pricing due to some reduction in the price of two inch core products. We anticipate gross margin to be in the high fifty percent range in the second quarter with diluted earnings per share of between $0.82 and $0.86. This assumes a diluted share count of 24 million shares and a tax rate of 7 %, which represents accrual for state income taxes only.”
Parvez continued, “Each quarter we evaluate our tax valuation allowance and determine whether it is appropriate to begin accruing for federal income taxes for financial statement purposes. That determination is made after evaluating many factors, including the projected earnings for the full year. It is possible that we may release the tax allowance and begin accruing federal taxes in the second quarter. If that were the case, we estimate that our total federal and state effective tax rate for financial statement purposes for the last three quarters of this year to be approximately 40 %. It is important to note that our projected tax rate for 2012 remains at our previously provided rate of 30 to 35 %. In addition, our projected cash basis tax rate for 2011 remains low at approximately 10 percent despite our increased earnings."
Rubicon hosted a conference call to review the highlights of the first quarter 2011 results and the second quarter 2011 outlook. An audio replay of the call will remain available until 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 12, 2011, and can be accessed by dialling
(888) 286-8010 or (617) 801-6888
Callers should reference conference ID 86049721. The webcast will be archived on the Company's website.
