Solar Maker SunEdison Earnings Okay, but Outlook Not So Bright

On a GAAP basis, SunEdison posted an EPS loss of $0.47 on revenues of $611.5 million. Lower non-GAAP revenues were attributed to lower pricing on solar projects and solar module sales that were partially offset by higher wafer sales.

SunEdison said it expects fourth-quarter non-GAAP sales of solar energy systems in the range of 234 to 264 megawatts and full project pricing of $2.75 to $3.50 per watt. Wafer sales are projected at $220 million to $230 million, below the $230.7 million in third-quarter sales.

For the full year, solar energy systems’ sales in the range of 405 to 435 megawatts and wafer sales of $920 million to $930 million are forecast. Average project pricing for full year is forecast at $3.10 to $3.40 per watt.

The company does not make it easy to figure out what is going on, but for comparison, in 2012 SunEdison’s wafer revenue was $917.5 million and the company recognized revenue of sales on 291.7 megawatts, yielding revenue for the year of $1.61 billion. Total revenue for the full year came to $2.53 billion, and the consensus estimates for this year calls for revenues of $2.72 billion and a full-year EPS loss of $0.07, compared with EPS of $0.17 in 2012.

SunEdison also plans to spin-off its semiconductor business early next year. No details are available yet, except that the new company’s stock ticker will be WFR, the same as the MEMC Electronics symbol before it changed its name to SunEdison.

The company’s CEO said:

Relative to last quarter, our Solar Energy segment generated improved results and grew our solar project pipeline and backlog. I am very encouraged by the near-term trends in our solar project business. In Semiconductor Materials, a continued soft market remains our primary challenge, but our position remains as strong as ever. We have achieved a more streamlined cost structure while maintaining key customer relationships, both of which we believe will drive value in the semiconductor business when the market turns.

Shares were down about 2% in premarket trading Wednesday, at $10.19 in a 52-week range of $2.15 to $10.97. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $11.30 before this report.