MEMC Electronics (WFR) beat Wall St estimates after the bell today, but the good news ends right there.  The company posted non GAAP profits of .65/share, which beat estimates of .61 but represented the first quarter of negative growth (-12%) over the year ago quarter in a couple years.  Revenues came in about 17 million ahead of estimates but were also significantly lower than the year ago quarter.. 21% lower.  However, it was at the top of their projections issued on Dec 17th. 

“The fourth quarter of 2008 saw deteriorating semiconductor and solar market conditions, amid the rapidly weakening global macroeconomic environment,” said Marshall Turner, MEMC’s Interim Chief Executive Officer. “While this led to one of the steepest declines of semiconductor industry unit sales on record, and a significant reduction in our quarterly sales, MEMC was able to continue to achieve very strong profitability with gross and operating margins of approximately 45% and 40%, respectively, and continue its consistently high levels of free cash flow generation, at approximately 15% of sales.

Projections for next quarter don’t get any better.  They are projecting that first quarter revenue could decline by as much as 50% over last quarter due to end market weakness, low order visibility across both semiconductor and solar applications, reduced consumer spending and limited access to credit. 

WFR is down about 8% after hours and likely headed down to retest all time lows around $10