Piper Jaffray's Expects Increase in Cree's LED Production in 2012

Piper Jaffray has published a research report on Cree CREE after the company's expectations to increase LED street lamp production ~79% in 2012. In the report, Piper Jaffray writes, "According to our checks, China street lamp production is projected to increase to 1.2m street lamp units, up from 680k in 2011. The growth in production comes as local governments in China are ramping LED street light installments. Our recent checks have confirmed that CREE remains the LED leader in China and is likely to remain so for some time as Chinese LED companies admit to being 2-3 years behind in technology. Thus, accelerating growth in LED lighting production in China will likely be positive for CREE which has 70% share of the outdoor lighting market in China, making us incrementally confident in our outlook for CY12 of $1.29b in revenue (+24%) and $0.96 EPS." Piper Jaffray maintains its Overweight rating and $30 price target on Cree, which is currently trading up $1.65 from yesterday's $27.28 closing price.