Tag Archives: jaso

Vivint Solar Burned On Widening Q4, 2015 Losses In SunEdison’s Wake

Vivint Solar ( VSLR ) stock combusted Tuesday after the No. 3 residential installer reported mixed Q4 earnings results, underperforming an equally blended Q4 for Chinese solar panel-maker JA Solar ( JASO ). Vivint Solar’s late Monday report comes a week after the company scrapped its sale to   SunEdison ( SUNE ), which, according to a Vivint 8K filing, likely couldn’t afford to close the deal as it faces an ongoing liquidity investigation. In midday trading on the stock market today , Vivint Solar stock was down 12%, near 3.50 and touching an all-time low for the fourth straight trading day. JA Solar stock, meanwhile, was down 4%, near 8.75. JA Solar reported before the open Tuesday. SunEdison stock also fell, sitting down nearly 3% midday Tuesday. Collectively, IBD’s 21-company Energy-Solar industry group was down 1.5%. The group ranks No. 48 out of 197 groups tracked. Vivint Reports Widening Losses For Q4, Vivint Solar reported a 132% year-over-year sales jump to $16 million. But losses per share ex items deepened to 50 cents vs. 36 cents in the year-earlier quarter. Two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 71-cent loss per share and $19.3 million in sales. Vivint Solar booked 80 megawatts and installed 59 MW during Q4, up a respective 56% and 17% vs. the year-earlier quarter. Cumulative installations reached 68,527, including a 23% year-over-year bump to 8,411 during the quarter. For the year, Vivint Solar’s $64.2 million in sales and a $2.39 per-share loss ex items missed the consensus expectations for $68.2 million and a loss of $1.83, respectively. Sales grew 154%, but losses deepened from $1.99. The company didn’t provide current-quarter guidance. Analysts are expecting $16.3 million and a 66-cent per-share loss ex items. Sales would grow 71%, but losses would widen from 57 cents in the year-earlier quarter. JA Solar Guides Shipments Up Before the open Tuesday, JA Solar reported $709.3 million (RMB 4.6 billion) in sales and 49 cents (RMB 3.14) earnings per American Depositary Share ex items, up 28.5% and 81.5%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. Sales topped the consensus of the two analysts for $683.3 million (RMB 4.5 billion) and JA Solar’s earlier views for $680 million to $710 million (RMB 4.4 billion to RMB 4.6 billion). But EPS missed Wall Street’s expectation for 68 cents. JA Solar topped its earlier guide to 1.32 gigawatts to 1.35 GW shipped, with 1.366 GW shipped during Q4. For the year, JA Solar shipped 4 GW, up 29% and topping guidance for 3.92 GW to 3.95 GW. JA Solar guided to 1 GW to 1.1 GW in current-quarter shipments, which would be up 54% at the midpoint. For the year, JA Solar sees 5.2 GW to 5.5 GW in shipments, up 30%-37.5% vs. 2015. The company doesn’t provide financial guidance. The consensus expects $421.7 million (RMB 2.75 billion) in sales and 20 cents (RMB 1.30) earnings per ADS ex items for the current quarter, up 9% and 53%, respectively. For the year, analysts model $1.65 (RMB 10.74) earnings per ADS minus items on $2.26 billion (RMB 14.68) in sales, both up 8%.

JA Solar Q4 Earnings Seen Doubling; Rival JinkoSolar Rated Hold

JA Solar ( JASO ) is expected Tuesday to report a second consecutive quarter of triple-digit earnings growth, and rival Chinese solar panel-maker JinkoSolar Holding ( JKS ) got a hold rating Monday, with an analyst questioning its plans for a spinoff. Shares of both companies were up a fraction in late-afternoon trading on the stock market today . JA Solar stock was trading above 9, JinkoSolar stock was near 24. Last week, a Roth Capital analyst reiterated a buy rating on JA Solar stock ahead of its Q4 earnings, due out before the open Tuesday. For Q4, two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters model $683.3 million in sales for JA Solar and 68 cents in earnings per American depositary share, up 18.5% and 143%, respectively, vs. the year earlier quarter. Last week, JA Solar issued preliminary Q4 guidance of RMB 4.4 billion to RMB 4.6 billion (about $680 million to $710 million) in sales. The company upped its shipment outlook to 1.32 gigawatts to 1.35 GW vs. earlier views for 1.1 GW to 1.2 GW. JA Solar’s new guidance has shipments growing 40% year over year. JA Solar expects that it ended the year with 3.92 GW to 3.95 GW in shipments, up 27% at the midpoint. The consensus models $2.1 billion in 2015 sales and $1.77 in earnings per ADS, up 16% and 101%, vs. 2014 metrics. Analysts are sunnier on JinkoSolar. At least two analysts reiterated positive ratings on JinkoSolar stock — buy and outperform — this month after the company’s Q4 earnings report on March 1. But S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Angelo Zino reiterated a hold rating Monday on JinkoSolar stock. He expects earnings per ADS of $4.82 and $5.50 in 2016 and 2017, compared with $5.01 in 2015. Zino said he remains “wary” of JinkoSolar’s plan to spin off its downstream solar photovoltaic project business this year.

Could Canadian Solar’s Q4, 2015 Sales Signal Return To Growth?

Canadian Solar’s expected record-busting fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 sales, to be reported before the open Thursday, could mark a return to growth, as the company reaccelerates from a pair of quarters with falling year-over-year revenue. For Q4, Canadian Solar ( CSIQ ) is expected to break the $1 billion mark, a first, with $1.04 billion in sales, up 9% vs. the year-earlier quarter, according to the consensus estimate of nine analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Earnings per share ex items of 76 cents would be down 41% vs. the year-earlier quarter. But that would mark an improvement from 72% and 62% year-over-year declines in Q3 and Q2, respectively. Last month, Canadian Solar upped its Q4 and 2015 sales guidance. For Q4, Canadian Solar sees $1.02 billion to $1.07 billion in sales. The company also expects total solar module shipments of 1.35 to 1.4 gigawatts, which would be up 22% at the midpoint. For 2015, analysts model $2.62 EPS minus items on $3.38 billion in sales, down 57% and up 14%, respectively. Canadian Solar guided to $3.35 billion to $3.4 billion in sales but doesn’t give EPS guidance. Solar module shipments of 4.63 GW to 4.68 GW, per Canadian Solar’s guidance, would be up 50% vs. the year earlier. In last month’s guidance release, Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu credited the strong expectations to “continued health and robust demand in the global solar market.” “We expect growth of global solar demand to continue, based on the compelling environmental and cost advantages solar energy offers and its single-digit penetration rate of the worldwide energy market,” he said in a statement. Canadian Solar is based in Ontario, Canada, but a large share of its manufacturing is based in China, where the solar market has been robust. China leads the world in terms of installed solar capacity, with 43.2 GW at the end of 2015 — 18.3 GW of which was installed in that year alone — according to Wind Power Engineering & Development. Comparatively, the U.S. installed 7.3 GW in 2015 , reaching a total 27.4 GW in installed capacity. Canadian Solar stock rose 1.9% on Wednesday. Canadian Solar has a low IBD Composite Rating of 28 out of a best-possible 99, trailing leaders SolarEdge Technologies ( SEDG ) and JA Solar ( JASO ), with CRs of 97 and 94, respectively.