Manufacturer of optical materials and semiconductors Coherent Corp. (NYSE: COHR) fell in pre-market trading at the time of writing on Wednesday after the company’s outlook left Wall Street disappointed. Looking forward, management now expects Q1 revenues in the range of $1 billion to $1.1 billion versus a consensus of $1.17 billion, and adjusted earnings per share is likely to be between $0.05 and $0.20 per share, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.45 per share. In FY24, Coherent has projected revenues in the range of $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion while adjusted earnings are likely to be between $1 and $1.50 per share. For reference, analysts were expecting $5.1 billion in revenue along with an adjusted EPS of $2.95.
The company stated in its letter to shareholders that macroeconomic challenges include “ongoing customer drawdown of inventory across all four major end markets…in addition, we face challenges from changes in product plans by some of our larger customers and from higher interest rates dampening the capital expenditure expansion plans of other customers.”
In the fourth quarter, Coherent’s adjusted earnings fell to $0.41 per share as compared to $0.98 in the same period last year but ahead of Street estimates of $0.38 per share.
Sales increased by 35% year-over-year to $1.2 billion in Q4, beating analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion.
Overall, Wall Street analysts are cautiously optimistic about COHR stock with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on seven Buys and six Holds.
