Cree's annual shareholders meeting was held on October 26th.During the meeting, Chuck Swoboda, CEO of Cree, restated the company's commitment to what it has termed the "LED Revolution", saying that the company is in it for the long haul.
 
As we know, the company has made a great leap in the past several years, growing its cash reserves to $1.1 billion and revenues to $867 million for the past year.
 
When one shareholder asked what the company intends to do with the $1.1 billion in cash, Swoboda said it won't be doing a stock buy-back any time soon. "I think our focus has to be how to make investments to drive our growth faster," he said.

According to Cree's most recent earnings report, for first quarter of fiscal year 2010-11, the company again posted record revenues of $268.4 million for the quarter, up 59 percent from the same period a year ago. Net income also increased 176 percent from the previous year to $58 million.
 
Swoboda also pointed out that a primary challenge for the company continues to be educating people in adoption of LEDs.
 
But, Swoboda emphasized, "It's not about the light bulb."

"At the end of the day..., [light bulbs] represent 10 percent of the lighting industry," he said. "It only exists because it breaks all the time. This is really a step toward changing the industry."

Plus, Cree recently announced plans to invest $135 million in a new production line and create 244 more jobs in Durham by 2013. That's in addition to the more than 600 workers the company has hired since the start of 2009.