GT Advanced Technologies (NASDAQ: GTAT) announced its guidance range for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2012 and provided its preliminary outlook for fiscal year 2013 ending December 31, 2013.

For Q4CY12 and CY12 the company provided the following guidance:
•    Revenue in the range of $95 million to $102 million in Q4CY12; $726 million to $733 million in CY12 with approximately 62% of CY12 revenue from polysilicon, 31% from sapphire, and 7% from PV
•    The company expects to take a charge of $80 million to $90 million related to the write down of the majority of its DSS inventory and other inventory related charges. Excluding the effect of this charge, gross margin is expected in the range of 34% to 36% in Q4CY12; 38% to 40% in CY12
•    The company is evaluating potential impairment related to goodwill, long-lived assets & other intangibles for the PV business that could impact Q4CY12. Excluding the impact of any such potential impairments, the company expects:
o    Operating expenses in the range of $49 million to $51 million in Q4CY12; $151 million to $153 million in CY12.
o    Research and development expenses in the range of $23 million to $25 million in Q4CY12; $71 million to 73 million in CY12.
•    Capital expenditures in the range of $5 million to $7 million in Q4CY12; $41 million to $43 million in CY12
•    An effective tax rate of 39% for CY12, excluding the charges related to inventory and any potential impairment charges
•    Non-GAAP earnings per share on a fully-diluted basis from a loss of $0.05 to a loss of $0.10 in Q4CY12; $0.77 to $0.82 in CY12. The non-GAAP EPS range is based on a diluted outstanding share count of 121 million shares for CY12 and excludes the impact related to the inventory charges and any potential impairment charges related to goodwill, long-lived assets or intangibles as well as restructuring charges, stock compensation expense, contingent consideration, non-cash interest expense, amortization of intangible assets and acquisition expenses
•    Balance sheet at the end of CY12 reflecting cash & cash equivalents of over $400 million and total debt of approximately $300 million
•    The company expects to end CY12 with a backlog of approximately $1.2 billion. Based on current market conditions and uncertainty relative to the delivery timing of certain orders in backlog the company expects that approximately 25% of this backlog is at risk.

The company will report final Q4CY12 and CY12 results in February 2013.
For the company’s new fiscal year ending December 31, 2013, it provided the following preliminary outlook:
•    Revenue in the range $500 million to $600 million with approximately 1% from the PV segment, 42% from polysilicon, and 57% from sapphire
•    Gross margin in the range of 35% to 37%
•    Operating expenses in the range of $152 million to $158 million, including $75 million to $80 million for R&D expenses
•    Capital expenditures in the range of $11 million to $13 million
•    Non-GAAP EPS on a fully-diluted basis in the range of $0.25 to $0.45 per share assuming a diluted outstanding share count of 124 million
•    Year-ending cash balance in the range of $225 million to $275 million

“Our outlook reflects the soft market conditions and very tight lending environment in the solar and LED industries that we serve, as well as the overall challenging macroeconomic environment. We have taken actions to size our business in accordance with the environment and expect to remain profitable in CY13,” said Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer. “While current market conditions are unlikely to improve over the next twelve months, we remain confident about our long term future and we expect to exit this downturn as a stronger more diversified company with market leading positions in several growth industries.”