Rubicon Technology (NASDAQ: RBCN) reported Q4 EPS of ($0.36), $0.04 better than the analyst estimate of ($0.40). Revenue for the quarter came in at $8.91 million versus the consensus estimate of $8.05 million.

First Quarter 2015 Guidance

While sapphire prices increased in the first half of 2014, pricing in the back half of the year was driven lower by fluctuations in demand and excess inventory in the supply chain. More recently, pricing has come under further pressure due to the significant weakening of the Russian ruble and Japanese yen. Commenting on the outlook for the first quarter of 2015, Mr. Weissman said, “There remains enormous potential for sapphire products with the growing adoption of LED lighting and use of sapphire in mobile devices and other optical applications. However, the sapphire market remains challenging at the moment with continued pricing pressure and fluctuations in demand. We expect to sell higher volumes and to begin driving down product costs in the first quarter but price reductions will minimize the impact. As a result, we expect first quarter 2015 results to be similar to the previous quarter. We expect that actions we are taking now will result in a significant improvement in both revenue and earnings by the end of the year.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Rubicon Technology (RBCN) click here.