Seeking Alpha

Seeking Alpha Portfolio App for iPad

623 people get RBCN articles and Market Currents by email alert.

Get email alerts on RBCN »

RBCN

Rubicon Technology, Inc.

6/19/2013, 9:36 AM ET

Quote & Headlines Market Currents StockTalk

All
| Earnings
| Dividends
| M&A
| On the move

Friday, June 14, 9:35 AM Rubicon (RBCN -4.3%) opens lower after getting cut to Sell by Goldman's Brian Lee, who says checks indicate ongoing 6" LED wafer share loss at top customer LG, and the potential for ASP drops of 25%-30% in the 6" market (made up 1/3 of 2012 sales). He thinks this translates into "downside risk" following Rubicon's run-up. SA Pro contributor Valuable Insights recently argued Rubicon is due for a cyclical upturn, and that wafer prices (often below cost) can only go up from here. Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
Tuesday, June 4, 1:54 PM Rubicon (RBCN +2.8%) jumps in response to an SA Pro article (still under embargo) from contributor Valuable Insights. The author argues the beaten-down and heavily-shorted LED wafer vendor is due to see an upcycle, thanks to strong LED lighting demand and an improving pricing environment (the current environment, in which 2" and 4" wafers are being sold below cost, is deemed "unsustainable"). Comparisons are made with Micron and First Solar, both of which have taken off since last fall with the help of improving cyclical conditions in their respective industries. Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
Wednesday, May 29, 1:41 PM Veeco (VECO +3.3%) rallies after UBS raises its estimates and PT, citing expansion plans from the company's top Chinese customer. The report might also be giving a lift to LED wafer vendor Rubicon (RBCN +3.3%). Veeco and rival Aixtron (AIXG -1.2%) sold off last month on a report the companies have drastically cut prices for LED manufacturing gear due to Chinese competition. Shares sold off more moderately in early May on a report the Shenzhen, China government is ending an LED manufacturing incentive plan. 1 Comment [Tech, On the Move]
Tuesday, May 7, 5:52 PM After-hours top gainers, as of 5:30 p.m.: PSE +20%. WBMD +14%. ARAY +12%. EA +9%. WFM +7.7%.
After-hours top losers: VCLK -14%. RBCN -12%. SYNC -12%. CORE -7%. CIE -7%. Comment! [On the Move]
Tuesday, May 7, 5:23 PM Following a halt, Rubicon (RBCN) -11.3% AH after posting mixed Q1 results, and guiding for Q2 revenue of $10M-$12M and EPS of -$0.19 to -$0.23. The former is in-line with a $10.6M consensus, but the latter is below expectations of -$0.08. Rubicon states LED wafer pricing remains weak (prices for 2"-4" wafers, while improving, remain below total cost), as does demand for 6" wafers (partly responsible for light Q1 guidance in Feb.) as customers burn through inventory. Rubicon's Q1 gross margin was -40.6%, and from the looks of things, it won't be getting much (if any) better in Q2. (PR) Comment! [Tech, Earnings, On the Move]
Tuesday, May 7, 4:36 PM Rubicon Tech (RBCN): Q1 EPS of -$0.15 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $8.3M beats by $0.37M. (PR) Comment! [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech]
Tuesday, May 7, 12:10 AM Notable earnings after Tuesday’s close: ANDE, ARAY, AWK, AXLL, BIO, BIOL, BMC, BWC, CA, CDXS, CHRW, CODI, DGI, DGIT, DIS, DVA, EA, ENPH, EXEL, GA, GPOR, HTA, IAG, JAZZ, KGC, LYV, MAKO, MCEP, MCK, MDLZ, MITK, MRO, MYGN, NVTL, OAS, OCLR, OHI, ONXX, ORA, PRI, RBCN, SD, SGEN, SYMC, SYNC, TRIP, TWO, URS, VCLK, WBMD, WFM, WMB, WPZ, WTI, Z 1 Comment [Earnings]
Monday, May 6, 5:35 PM Notable earnings after Tuesday’s close: ANDE, ARAY, AWK, AXLL, BIO, BIOL, BMC, BWC, CA, CDXS, CHRW, CODI, DGI, DGIT, DIS, DVA, EA, ENPH, EXEL, GTEK, GA, GPOR, IAG, JAZZ, KGC, LYV, MAKO, MCEP, MCK, MDLZ, MITK, MRO, MYGN, NVTL, OAS, OCLR, OHI, ONXX, ORA, PRI, RBCN, SD, SGEN, SYMC, SYNC, TRIP, TWO, URS, VCLK, WBMD, WFM, WMB, WPZ, WTI, Z 1 Comment [Earnings]
Thursday, May 2, 10:28 AM Veeco (VECO -2.8%), Aixtron (AIXG -1.3%), and Rubicon (RBCN -0.7%) slump after the Shenzhen, China government reportedly ends a 7-year, $21B LED incentive plan that helped make the city China's LED manufacturing capital. Notable Calls observes sell-side firms have named Chinese subsidy cuts as a risk for Veeco (I, II, III). Shares might also be pressured by GT Advanced's (GTAT -7.3%) revenue miss and light 2013 guidance - GT only saw $16.6M in new orders in Q1, and removed $356M worth of sapphire furnace orders from its backlog that considers at-risk. (LED equipment price cuts) Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
Monday, April 29, 2:34 PM LED stocks outperform as the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act gets introduced in the Senate. The bill, which provides incentives and mandates to get the federal government and businesses to adopt energy-saving technologies, doesn't feature loan program provisions that had led prior bills to draw heat from Congressional Republicans. Last year, Pres. Obama authorized $2B in spending on energy efficiency upgrades for federal buildings. CREE +2.4%. LEDS +15.9%. RBCN +2.2%. GTAT +6.8%. (bill text) (summary) 2 Comments [Tech, On the Move]
Tuesday, April 23, 10:50 AM A rising Veeco lifts all LED boats: Cree (CREE +3.2%) and Rubicon (RBCN +7.2%) are joining Aixtron and GT Advanced in benefiting from Veeco's Q1 bookings figures and relatively upbeat Q2 commentary, which comes just a week after LED names were hit hard by a Digitimes report about MOCVD equipment price cuts. Cree is making new 52-week highs, while Rubicon remains 43% below its 52-week high. The rally comes as Toshiba (TOSBF.PK) bolsters its LED chip ops by acquiring the chip-production assets of startup Bridgelux. 1 Comment [Tech, On the Move]
Monday, April 8, 9:51 AM An upgrade to Buy from Sterne Agee leads Rubicon (RBCN +7.8%) to jump out of the gate. LED equipment supplier GT Advanced (GTAT +1.3%) is also trading higher. 25.2% of Rubicon's float was shorted as of March 15; shares have rallied strongly since early March after crashing in February. Comment! [On the Move, Tech]
Monday, March 25, 11:07 AM In addition to upgrading Veeco to Buy, Canaccord has lifted LED equipment rival Aixtron (AIXG +5.4%) to Hold and sapphire wafer vendor Rubicon (RBCN +4.2%) to Buy. The Rubicon upgrade comes a month after shares were crushed due to the guidance provided with the company's Q4 report. Comment! [Tech]
Thursday, March 14, 4:00 PM Rubicon (RBCN +4.9%) closes with a decent gain on a day when it released its 2012 10-K. The hard-luck LED sapphire wafer maker, which has hammered last month after providing light guidance to go with a small Q4 miss, had 26.2% of its float shorted as of Feb. 15. 2 Comments [Tech, On the Move]
Tuesday, March 5, 9:42 AM Cree (CREE +11.4%) raises its FQ3 guidance: the company now expects revenue of $335M-$350M and EPS of $0.31-$0.36 vs. prior guidance of $325M-$345M and $0.30-$0.35, and a consensus of $336.1M and $0.33. Cree is also announcing new, aggressively-priced LED bulbs: Home Depot will sell a 40W-replacement bulb for $9.97, and 60W-replacements for $12.97 and $13.97. Shares are making new 52-week highs. Up in sympathy: RBCN +3%. AIXG +3.5%. GTAT +6%. VECO +5.5%. (PR) Comment! [Tech, On the Move, Earnings]
Thursday, February 21, 1:15 PM Midday top 10 gainers: CBMX +115%. WH +85%. PRKR +48%. RPRX +31%. CLRX +26%. MKTG +23%. ALIM +20%. JAXB +17%. BRY +17%. CBR +15%.
Midday top 10 losers: PAY -39%. GENT -23%. EBIX -23%. PATK -16%. XRSC -16%. CMGE -16%. CHLN -16%. RBCN -15%. RFMD -15%. ANTP -14%. Comment! [On the Move]