NEW YORK (TheStreet) — LED lighting sector lightning rod Cree provided its shareholders with another “gut check” day on Wednesday. An inventory glut in the LED market that is lasting longer than expected, and steep pricing declines, forced Cree to lower its existing top line and gross margin guidance.
The trading action after the Cree pre-announcement seemed to suggest that a good number of investors had run out of patience, with more than 19 million shares traded on Wednesday when Cree shares fell by more than 12%, and notably, fell to a new 52-week low, below the $43 mark (Cree shares would finished the week at $44.85).
Just about a year ago, in the middle of April 2010, Cree shares were above the $80 mark. It’s been up and down, and then up and down again, since that year-ago high mark for Cree shares. Even before Wednesday, Cree shares took a big hit since its January earnings, when it first reported the excess inventory in the LED market. Cree shares had been as high as $72 in December 2010.
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