Rubicon Technology also reported its third-quarter results yesterday. The company reported revenue for the third quarter of $11.8 million, up 29 percent from the third quarter of last year. This was also a 2% increase over the second quarter of 2008. Earnings per share decreased moving into the third quarter from the second quarter of 2008, from $.10 per diluted share to $.07 per diluted share. This quarter’s results include $1.3 million of contracted research revenue and a $1.2 million loss on disposal of assets.

Raja Parvez, Rubicon’s CEO, commented on the results and his expectations for the fourth quarter:

"During the quarter we saw very positive signs of the LED industry moving to larger diameter substrates, which is Rubicon’s greatest strength. However, we were also impacted by the significant short-term challenges that many of our customers are facing as a result of the global economic downturn.”

“As we previously announced, the weakness in consumer spending associated with the global economic downturn has significantly impacted our LED and SoS customers. Our customers have very little demand visibility at the moment, which makes it difficult to project our future revenues. However, we expect the fourth quarter to be particularly challenging for us as our customers continue to work through their inventory. We anticipate revenue in the fourth quarter will be between $4.0 million and $6.0 million, which would result in approximately a $1.0 to $2.0 million net loss for the period.”

Mr. Parvez continued, “We are excited by the advancements in the LED industry and about our positioning to address this evolving market. While these are challenging times, we have a strong balance sheet and great relationships in the market, which will enable us to manage through these short term challenges.”