EMCORE Corporation (EMCORE) has reported total revenues $43.3 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, down 23%, compared with the total revenues of $56.2 million in the year-ago quarter. It has also reported a net loss of $23.7 million, or $0.30 loss per share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with the net loss of $17.5 million, or $0.27 loss per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Quarterly Results:

Revenue:

On a segment basis, revenue for the Fiber Optics segment for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 was $28.4 million, a $9.2 million, or 24%, decrease from $37.6 million reported in the year-ago period and a decrease of $10.8 million, or 28%, from $39.2 million reported in the preceding quarter. The decrease in Fiber Optics revenue was primarily due to the impact that the very unfavorable macroeconomic environment has had on the company’s customers. The Fiber Optics segment represented 66% of the company’s consolidated revenue for the second quarter compared to 67% in the year-ago period.

Revenue for the Photovoltaics segment for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 was $14.9 million, a $3.7 million, or 20%, decrease from $18.6 million reported in the year-ago period and flat when compared to the preceding quarter. On a year-over-year basis, and when compared to the preceding quarter, the company’s satellite solar power product lines experienced an increase in revenue while the company’s concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) product lines and government service contracts experienced a decrease in revenue. The Photovoltaics segment represented 34% of the company’s consolidated revenue for the second quarter compared to 33% in the year-ago period.

Gross Profit/(Loss):

The consolidated gross loss for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 was $7.0 million, a decrease of $13.6 million from a $6.6 million gross profit reported in the year-ago period and a decrease of $8.6 million from a $1.6 million gross profit reported in the preceding quarter. The consolidated gross margin for the second quarter was negative 16.2% compared to a gross margin of 11.8% reported in the year-ago period and 2.9% reported in the preceding quarter.

Fiber Optics gross margin for the second quarter was negative 11.7%, a decrease from a 24.0% gross margin reported in the year-ago period and from a negative 1.1% gross margin reported in the preceding quarter. The decrease in Fiber Optics gross margin was primarily due to unabsorbed overhead expenses due to declining revenues and inventory valuation write-downs that totaled around $2.2 million. The loss was magnified by the company’s efforts to monetize older-generation product inventory as the company transition to newer lower cost and more competitive design platforms.

Photovoltaics gross margin for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 was negative 24.7%, a decrease from a negative 12.8% gross margin reported in the year-ago period and from 13.6% gross margin reported in the preceding quarter. The decrease in Photovoltaics gross margin was primarily due to inventory valuation write-downs of around $5.6 million associated with earlier versions of the company’s CPV components and systems that have become obsolete due to the introduction of new product platforms. In addition, gross margins were adversely affected by product warranty accruals associated with the company’s CPV-related business that totaled around $1.1 million.

Operating Expenses:

Sales, general, and administrative expenses for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 totaled $12.0 million, a $1.7 million increase from $10.3 million reported in the year-ago period and a slight decrease from $12.2 million reported in the preceding quarter. As a percentage of revenue, quarterly SG&A expenses were 27.6%, an increase from 18.2% in the year-ago period and an increase from 22.5% in the preceding quarter. The increase in SG&A expenses was primarily due to additional amortization expense related to intangible assets acquired from Intel Corporation and an increase in legal and professional fees.

Research and development expenses for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 totaled $6.9 million, a decrease of $2.4 million from $9.3 million reported in the year-ago period and a decrease of $1.2 million from $8.1 million reported in the preceding quarter. As a percentage of revenue, quarterly R&D expenses were 15.9%, a decrease from 16.6% in the year-ago period and an increase from 15.0% in the preceding quarter.

Second quarter operating expenses totaled $18.9 million, a decrease of $0.7 million from $19.6 million reported in the year-ago period and a decrease of $35.1 million from $54.0 million incurred in the preceding quarter that included non-cash charges related to impairment of goodwill and intangible assets totaling $33.8 million.

Loss:

The consolidated operating loss for the second quarter was $25.9 million, an increase of $12.9 million from an operating loss of $13.0 million reported in the year-ago period and a decrease of $26.6 million from an operating loss of $52.5 million reported in the preceding quarter.

Te consolidated net loss for the second quarter was $23.7 million, an increase of $6.2 million from $17.5 million reported in the year-ago period and a decrease of $29.7 million from $53.4 million reported in the preceding quarter. The second quarter net loss per share was $0.30, an increase of $0.03 per share from a net loss of $0.27 per share reported in the year-ago period and a decrease of $0.39 per share from a net loss of $0.69 per share reported in the preceding quarter.

First Half Results:

Revenue:

Revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2009 was $97.3 million, a decrease of $5.9 million, or 6%, from $103.2 million reported in the year-ago period.

On a segment basis, revenue for the Fiber Optics segment for the six months ended March 31, 2009 was $67.6 million, a $4.0 million, or 6%, decrease from $71.6 million reported in the year-ago period. The decrease in Fiber Optics revenue was primarily due to a significant drop in demand from the company’s customers due to the very unfavorable macroeconomic environment as well as continued pressure on selling prices as the company competes to maintain or increase the company’s market share positions. The Fiber Optics segment represented 69% of the company’s consolidated revenue for both the six months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008.

Revenue for the Photovoltaics segment for the six months ended March 31, 2009 was $29.8 million, a $1.8 million, or 6%, decrease from $31.6 million reported in the year-ago period. On a year-over-year basis, the company’s satellite solar power product lines experienced an increase in revenue while the company’s CPV product lines and government service contracts experienced a decrease in revenue. The Photovoltaics segment represented 31% of the company’s consolidated revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008.

Gross Profit/(Loss):

The consolidated gross loss for the six months ended March 31, 2009 was $5.4 million, a $22.2 million decrease from $16.8 million in gross profit reported in the year-ago period. The consolidated gross margin for the six months ended March 31, 2009 was negative 5.6% compared to a positive 16.2% gross margin reported in the year-ago period.

Fiber Optics gross margin for the six months ended March 31, 2009 was negative 5.6%, a decrease from a 23.8% gross margin reported in the year-ago period. The decrease in Fiber Optics gross margin was primarily due to a general decline in average selling prices, especially for the telecom component products, unabsorbed overhead expenses due to inventory valuation write-downs that totaled around $7.0 million and declining revenues.

Photovoltaics gross margin for the six months ended March 31, 2009 was negative 5.5%, a decrease from a negative 0.9% gross margin reported in the year-ago period. The decrease in Photovoltaics gross margin was primarily due to inventory valuation write-downs of around $6.4 million associated with CPV component and systems product transitions, product warranty accruals associated with the CPV-related business of around $1.1 million, lower CPV-related project margins, and unabsorbed overhead expenses associated with the CPV-related