Scalper1 News
Late Thursday, SunPower ( SPWR ) kept its full-year outlook despite offering Q2 guidance that lagged Wall Street’s view by $400 million, indicating a back-end-loaded 2016 for the No. 2 solar developer, says Credit Suisse analyst Patrick Jobin. SunPower and First Solar ( FSLR ) stocks were both flat in early afternoon trading on the stock market today , but IBD’s 26-company Energy-Solar industry group was down more than 1%, touching a three-year low for the third straight day. SunPower-First Solar yieldco 8point3 Energy Partners ( CAFD ) stock was down 2%. For Q1, SunPower reported $433.6 million in sales ex items, topping analysts’ model for $328.5 million, boosted by revenue recognized from the sale to 8point3 of the 50-megawatt Hooper Project. Solar firms form yieldcos to own their operating assets. But SunPower’s 30-cent loss per share ex items was wider than the 20-cent projection of 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, and that swung from a 13-cent gain in the year-earlier quarter. SunPower said it deployed 236 megawatts in the quarter, above guidance for 180 MW to 210 MW and up 8% year over year. Of that, Jobin estimates 75 MW was residential, 35 MW commercial and 205 MW power plant. The latter two segments missed views for 43 MW and 210 MW. Residential deployments fell 23% on Japanese weakness, partially offset by 50% growth in the U.S. market, Jobin wrote. But lease bookings (37% of U.S. deployments) fell 18%. For the current quarter, SunPower guided to $310 million to $360 million in sales, down 11% year over year at the midpoint. That was far off the analysts’ model for $722 million. SunPower didn’t offer an earnings view, but the consensus expected 22% growth to 22 cents. During Q2, SunPower expects to deploy 360 MW to 385 MW. For the year, the company maintained its view for 1.6 gigawatts to 1.9 GW and $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion in sales “implying a second-half weighted year,” Jobin wrote. SunPower also shed light on 650 MW in projects. The lion’s share, 436 MW, will be completed in Q4. The project list includes 241 MW slated for sale to 8point3, 151 MW for third parties and 255 MW to be divvied up. The company also announced a $200 million revolver facility to focus on commercial and small-scale utility projects that will be able to fund up to 100% of construction projects. Jobin retained his outperform rating and 32 price target on SunPower stock, which was near 17 Friday afternoon. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News