Advanced electronic materials provider Rubicon Technology, Inc. (RBCN) reported Wednesday a loss for the first quarter, hurt by a sluggish consumer electronics market, where much of its products are used.
For the first quarter, net loss was $3.9 million or $0.19 per share, compared with net income of $2.3 million or $0.10 per share in the previous year.
Revenue for the quarter fell sharply to $2.3 million from $10.5 million in the year-ago period.
On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.16 per share on revenue of $2.36 million in the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Raja Parvez, chief executive of Rubicon said, "Industry estimates are that the penetration rate of LED-backlit notebooks and netbooks may now reach as high as 70 to 80 percent by the end of this year compared to earlier estimates of only 30"
Considering the positive signs in the LED market, William Weissman, Rubicon's finance chief, stated that customers would work down their inventories of sapphire by the end of second quarter. He added that the company expects the results for the second quarter to be in line with the first quarter, and foresees orders picking up in the penultimate quarter.
RBCN is currently trading at $8.46, up $0.21 or 2.55%, on the Nasdaq.
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