TAUNTON – Kopin Corp. (Nasdaq: KOPN) today reported preliminary 2006 results, saying full reports are expected after the completion of its stock-option probe. For the year, the company posted revenue of $71.1 million, a 21.3-percent decrease from the previous year’s $90.3 million.
A stock buy-back program was suspended last fall, after the company launched an independent review of its stock-option practices. Before the halt, the company last year had repurchased 1.7 million shares for $6.9 million. The buyback was possible in part because Kopin has no long-term debt and $105.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
CyberDisplay unit revenue fell 42.9 percent to $27.2 million as the company pulled out of the low-end camcorder business and saw production of military systems integrating its products grew more slowly than anticipated. “Although we were frustrated by the slow military qualification process … it is important to remember that this same process creates a high barrier to entry for other companies and thus is a competitive advantage for Kopin,” said John C.C. Fan, Kopin’s president and CEO.
Revenue from other products grew 2.8 percent to $43.9 million.
“CyberDisplay revenue rebounded in the fourth quarter,” Fan said, “sparked by strong military shipments of our ruggedized display modules for the U.S. Army's Thermal Weapons Sight (TWS-II) program. ... The momentum helped to drive a 57-percent sequential increase in CyberDisplay sales, pushing military revenue to approximately 16 percent of total revenue for the year.”
For the quarter ended Dec. 30, the company posted revenue of $17.9 million, compared with $24.9 million in the year-ago period and $15.6 million in the third quarter of 2006.
Kopin Corp. (Nasdaq: KOPN) develops and manufactures telecommunications and digital imaging technologies under the Kopin, CyberDisplay, and the NanoSemiconductor Co. trademarks. Additional information is available at www.kopin.com.
