LDK Solar Co.Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) reported late Tuesday that its first-quarter profit jumped to $135.4 million, or 95 cents per American Depositary share, from $7.2 million, or 6 cents per ADS, in the prior-year quarter. Revenue climbed to $766.3 million from $347.6 million a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 86 cents per share on revenue of $769.45 million.
Gross margin for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 was 31.5%, compared to 27.3% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 and 15.7% in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.
"During the first quarter, we made notable progress and executed on our growth strategy while improving our margin profile. This progress was made despite seasonality in the macro environment and regulatory uncertainties in Europe," stated Xiaofeng Peng, Chairman and CEO of LDK Solar. "The significant improvement in our margins demonstrates the success of our vertical integration strategy and strong market position.
For the second quarter of fiscal 2011, LDK Solar estimates its revenue to be in the range of $710 million to $760 million with wafer shipments between 500 MW and 550 MW, and module shipments between 200 MW and 220 MW, in-house polysilicon production between 2,650 MT and 2,750 MT, in-house cell production between 120 MW and 130 MW and gross margin between 22% and 26%.
Full Disclosure: None.
