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Q3

Better Than Expected Third Quarter For Canadian Solar

by Joshua S Hill November 11, 2015

Canadian Solar has reported a better than expected third quarter, with increased revenue and solar module shipments.

The Canadian-based solar power company published its third quarter earnings report on Tuesday, revealing a quarter made up of 1,198 MW worth of solar module shipments, of which a total of 1,150 MW was recognized in revenue. This compares favorably with the previous quarter, which saw 809 MW worth of shipments recognized in revenue, and 770 MW recognized in revenue in Q3’14.

Net revenue for the quarter was similarly impressive, up to $849.8 million from Q2’s $636.7 million — though, year-over-year, the company’s revenue dropped 7.1% from $914.4 million.

The Americas represented 52.6% of net revenue in sales, followed by Asia which represented 41.3%, with sales to the remainder of the world accounting for the final 6.1%. This represents 5-point growth in the Americas, with conversant drops everywhere else.

“This has been a solid quarter as we benefited from strong demand for our modules in the US, Japan, China and India,” explained Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar.

“We also made good progress on our Energy business, as we expanded our fleet of operating power plants in Japan and in Canada, grew our pipeline of high quality solar projects in Brazil and China, closed the sale of a controlling interest in our 200 MW Tranquillity Solar Project in California and secured financing for three of our seven U.S. projects.”

Canadian Solar is expecting total module shipments for the fourth quarter to be in the range of 1,300 MW and 1,350 MW, which includes 170 MW to its own utility-scale solar power projects (which may or may not be included in 2015 revenue). Total revenue for the fourth quarter is expected to be in the range of $930 million and $980 million, with a gross margin between 13% and 15%.

“We were able to deliver a 33.5% increase in net revenue to $849.8 million in the third quarter, compared to the second quarter,” added Michael G. Potter, Canadian Solar’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

November 11, 2015 0 comment

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SunEdison Beats Own Forecast With Record Third Quarter, Stocks Plummet

by Joshua S Hill November 11, 2015

written by Joshua S Hill

Despite a record third quarter delivery, the world’s largest global renewable energy development company, SunEdison, saw its stocks plummet 22%.

SunEdison has been under intense pressure over the last six months to perform across all metrics, a task that shareholders do not believe the company is living up to. In its third quarter financial earnings announcement, SunEdison revealed that it had delivered 640 MW through the quarter, smashing its own previous guidance of delivery between 540 MW to 600 MW. This puts the company up 343 MW year-over-year, with another 2.9 GW of projects under construction, and a pipeline of 7.9 GW and backlog of 5.5 GW.

The company brought in revenue of $476 million for the quarter, including reported adjusted revenue of $153 million from their widely publicized yieldco, TerraForm Power, and reported revenue of $29 million from the company’s newest yieldco, TerraForm Global.

However, despite relatively decent performance across the board from the company — and only slight losses for its two yieldcos — SunEdison also reported a loss of $0.92 per share — originally forecast to be only $0.60 per share — which subsequently managed to scare investors enough to cause the stock price to plummet.

“During the third quarter, we continued our track record of execution within the development business by delivering over 600 MW, more than double versus the prior year,” said Ahmad Chatila, SunEdison chief executive officer. “In addition, we made the difficult, but necessary decision to optimize our organization in the face of the current market conditions within the yieldco space. These changes will not only set up the business for long-term success, but also should position the development business to generate positive cash flow in mid 2016.”

MarketWatch is reporting that Wall Street has not lost any of its confidence in the company, despite its performance on the stock market today, with some analysts describing investors reaction to SunEdison’s earnings report as “unwarranted.”

SunEdison’s shares have been on a months-long downward-trend, after second quarter earnings which reported a net loss of $263 million that sent investors scurrying for safety — despite the confusion of many analysts. Investor reaction has forced SunEdison to refocus their attentions from acquiring capacity and equity, and to begin building up revenue. SunEdison announced that it would form a new $1 billion warehouse investment vehicle that it hoped would be the first sign it was turning their ship around, followed last month by the decision to lay off 15% of its work-force.

The long-term gains of SunEdison’s original acquisition-phase would have been of long-term benefit to investors, but short-term gains seem to be the order of business. The most telling factor will be the reaction over the next several months, and in particular, following the company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2015 earnings report due early next year.

November 11, 2015 0 comment

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First Solar Sees Strong Growth In Record-Breaking Third Quarter

by Joshua S Hill November 10, 2015

written by Joshua S Hill

First Solar has recorded third quarter financials replete with record sales, earnings per share, and bookings.

One of the world’s largest solar PV developers and manufacturers, First Solar recorded an impressive third quarter this year, with increases to record-levels of net sales, GAAP earnings per fully diluted share, and quarterly and year-to-date bookings.

Specifically, First Solar saw net sales of $1.27 billion in the third quarter, up 42% on Q2’15 and 43% year-over-year. The company’s quarterly GAAP earnings per fully diluted share also increased to $3.38, up from $2.34 a quarter earlier, and $2.51 a year earlier.

First Solar took in record bookings of 1.7 GW (DC) during the quarter, bringing its year-to-date bookings up to 3.1 GW (DC). The company also has in excess of 1 GW worth of bookings for project delivery after 2016, and another 17.4 GW of potential booking opportunities.

First Solar was forced to put out a preliminary earnings report late October, due to the need to analyze “a discrete income tax matter related to a foreign jurisdiction.” Nevertheless, First Solar reported that “third quarter 2015 net sales, gross margin and ending cash balances were all unchanged from the preliminary results.” However, earnings per share increased to the aforementioned $3.41, up from the preliminary $3.38.

“We had tremendous execution in the third quarter from both a financial and bookings perspective,” said Jim Hughes, CEO of First Solar, in the preliminary earnings announcement. “We have now exceeded our book-to-bill target for the year, booked over 1GWdc of volume with deliveries after 2016, achieved strong quarterly earnings and have significantly raised our full year earnings guidance. We remain confident in our long term strategy and our ability to execute successfully.”

November 10, 2015 0 comment

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SolarWorld Grows Sales & Revenue In Q3

by Joshua S Hill November 4, 2015

written by Joshua S Hill

Germany solar giant SolarWorld has reported increased shipments and revenue in its third quarter earnings report last week.

Reporting to shareholders last Thursday, SolarWorld reported increased shipments of solar power modules and kits across the first three quarters of the year of 25%, reaching 755 MW, up from Q1-Q3’2014’s 602 MW. The US was the largest of the company’s receiving markets across that time, growing by 61% compared to 2014. SolarWorld also raised its shipments in its home of Germany by 30%.

Solarworld’s consolidated revenue grew by 30% to € 532 million, up from € 409 million in the first three quarters of 2014.

The company also expects to exceed its guidance on shipments and group revenue for the full-year 2015, surpassing original forecasts of 1 GW of shipment and a revenue forecast of € 700 million, and the SolarWorld Management Board believes it can reach a positive EBIT in the fourth quarter.

November 4, 2015 0 comment

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First Solar’s Preliminary Q3 Earnings Boast Strong Performance

by Joshua S Hill October 30, 2015

written by Joshua S Hill

First Solar has released preliminary guidance on its third quarter earnings, with net income of $346.2 million and recorded sales of $1.3 billion.

The company’s quarterly earnings are “preliminary” due to the need to analyze “a discrete income tax matter related to a foreign jurisdiction.” First Solar “believes that based on its preliminary analysis, the tax matter could have an adverse financial impact of up to $40 million,” but it is still unsure if there will be any impact on results.

Net sales were up to $1.3 billion for the quarter, an increase of $375 million on the second quarter of 2015, and $410 million up on a year earlier, thanks primarily to initial revenue recognition of the sale of a majority interest in the partially completed Desert Stateline project, as well as higher third party module sales and an increase in systems revenue across multiple projects.

Earnings per share were $3.38, compared to $0.93 in Q2’15.

“We had tremendous execution in the third quarter from both a financial and bookings perspective,” said Jim Hughes, CEO of First Solar. “We have now exceeded our book-to-bill target for the year, booked over 1GWdc of volume with deliveries after 2016, achieved strong quarterly earnings and have significantly raised our full year earnings guidance. We remain confident in our long term strategy and our ability to execute successfully.”

First Solar also released guidance for the full-year 2015. Net sales guidance remained unchanged from previous quarters, expected to be between $3.5 billion and $3.6 billion, and similarly unchanged shipment forecasts of between 2.8 GW and 2.9 GW. Gross margin is expected up on previous estimates, to between 24% and 25%, and earnings per share similarly up to $4.30 to $4.50.

October 30, 2015 0 comment

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SolarCity Shares Tank After Mixed Q3 Earnings Report

by Joshua S Hill October 30, 2015

written by Joshua S Hill

One of America’s leading solar developers, SolarCity, has seen its shares tank after a mixed third quarterly earnings report which saw record installations but failed earnings per share.

In its third quarter 2015 shareholder letter (PDF), the US solar giant reported that it had installed a record of 256 MW of distributed solar in the third quarter, bringing its cumulative total to 1.7 GW. Revenue was $113.9 million, up from analysts’ expectations of $111 million, increasing 95% year-over-year thanks to an increase in installations and high system performance. The company’s gross margin was 22%.

However, despite the good news, SolarCity posted a loss per share of $2.10, higher than the analysts’ expected EPS of $-1.95.

Subsequently, SolarCity’s shares have tanked in after-hours trading, and as of writing, shares were down 18.10%.

Guidance for Q4’2014 wasn’t crash hot either, with installations expected to only reach 280 to 300 MW in the fourth quarter, below the low end of the company’s previous annual guidance. This would push its full-year installations to between 878 and 898 MW. Fourth quarter GAAP revenue guidance is expected to fall between $100 million and $108 million, up 48% year-over-year, “though representing the typical seasonal quarter-over-quarter decline as we head into the fall months.” This is made up of between $70 million and $76 million for operating lease and solar energy systems incentive revenue, and between $30 and $32 million for solar energy system and component sale revenue.

SolarCity was quick to praise its quarterly efforts regardless of the earnings per share loss, starting off its shareholder letter with news of “two major milestones” — the launch of the company’s international expansion into Mexico, and becoming the first solar company to reach 1 GW in annualized distributed solar installations in the US, “and likely the world.”

October 30, 2015 0 comment

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SunPower Reports Strong Quarter, Despite Net Loss

by Joshua S Hill October 29, 2015

written by Joshua S Hill

US solar panel manufacturer SunPower revealed a strong Q3 despite a lack of revenue growth and a net loss.

These may sound like contradictory statements, but SunPower is currently in the midst of moving towards a different financial model that focuses more on retaining assets rather than selling them — subsequently impacting the quarterly revenues and overall net income/loss.

Specifically, SunPower is gearing up to drop a number of projects down to its new yieldco, 8point3 Energy Parnters. According to SunPower president and CEO Tom Werner, SunPower has already handed over the 135 MW Quinty solar project — which is on track to be recognized as non-GAAP revenue in the fourth quarter. In addition, SunPower completed work on the 8 MW Riverside Public Utilities project as well as the 12 MW Roc du Doun power plant in France, and 40 MW worth of projects developed for Apple in China.

SunPower was also awarded a 20 MW project for Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative in Arizona, which is scheduled for delivery in 2016.

In the third quarter, SunPower recorded GAAP revenue of $380.2 million — steady with the $381 million they took in during Q2’15, but well below the third quarter of 2014, which under their old model of selling rather than holding assets, the company took in $662.7 million. The company also recorded a net loss of $56.3 million for the quarter, well down on the $6.5 million net income from Q2’15, and obviously even further down on Q3’14’s $32 million.

“Our strong quarterly results reflect the continued success of our customer first, complete solution strategy as we executed well on our project commitments and exceeded our key financial targets for the quarter,” said Tom Werner. “Operationally, we met our cell and balance of systems cost targets and shipments of our industry leading technology now exceed one million cells per day. With Fab 4 scheduled for large volume production next year, we believe we will have the capacity to meet customer demand for our high efficiency, high quality solutions.”

SunPower also provided GAAP guidance for the following fourth quarter of revenue between $300 million and $350 million, a gross margin of between 5% and 6%, and a total of between 275 MW and 305 MW deployed for the quarter.

For the fiscal year 2015 SunPower is expecting GAAP revenue of between $1.50 billion and $1.55 billion and a gross margin of between 15% and 16%.

“The solid execution of our downstream strategy enabled us to post strong financial results for the quarter, including generating $54 million in EBITDA,” added Chuck Boynton, SunPower CFO. “In relation to working capital, we increased inventory in the third quarter in preparation to meet our significant 2016 backlog while adding assets to our holdco asset base. With solid industry fundamentals, a diversified end channel strategy, new product introductions, and further commitment to our manufacturing cost reduction roadmaps, we are well positioned for profitable growth in 2016.”

October 29, 2015 0 comment

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Canadian Solar Set To Exceed Q3 Guidance

by Joshua S Hill October 27, 2015

written by Joshua S Hill

A fortnight before it reveals its third quarter earnings, global solar company Canadian Solar has revealed it will exceed its original Q3 guidance.

In a press release published on Monday, Canadian Solar, one of the world’s leading solar companies, updated its business outlook for the third quarter of 2015 (Q3) to reflect the higher than expected solar demand it experienced during the quarter, as well as the sale of 51% of the 200 MW Tranquility solar power project in California by its subsidiary company, Recurrent Energy.

According to the company’s statement, Canadian Solar is now expecting its third quarter solar module shipments to be in the range of approximately 1.18 GW to 1.23 GW, well in advance of its original guidance of between 970 MW and 1.02 GW.

Further, Canadian Solar expects total revenue for Q3 to fall between $805 million and $815 million, greatly exceeding its original guidance of between $570 million to $620 million.

“We ended the third quarter with stronger than expected demand in our solar module business, led by the US, the UK, Canada, and Japan,” explained Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. “We also benefited from the sale of a controlling interest in our 200 MW Tranquillity project in California. We are entering the fourth quarter of 2015 in an excellent competitive and financial position. We expect to see continued robust demand levels in our solar module business and we continue to execute on our already robust and steadily expanding utility-scale solar project development pipeline.”

Canadian Solar is also expecting its gross margin for Q3 to be at or slightly above the high end of their previous guidance of between 12% and 14%.

October 27, 2015 0 comment