Energy

Canadian Solar Stumbles Over Guidance

Chris Lange

Published: March 10, 2016 11:05 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 12:06 pm

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) reported its fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. The company said it had $1.05 in earnings per share (EPS) on $1.12 billion in revenue, which compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.76 in EPS on revenue of $1.04 billion. In the same period of the previous year, it posted EPS of $1.28 and $956.15 million in revenue.

In terms of the first quarter outlook, the company expects total module shipments to be in the range of approximately 1,085 to 1,135 megawatts, and total revenue is expected to be in the range of $645 million to $695 million, with gross margin expected to be between 12% and 14%. Consensus estimates call for $0.43 in EPS on $803.08 million in revenue.

By geography, in the fourth quarter, sales to the Americas represented 51.9% of net revenue, sales to Asia represented 41.1% of net revenue and sales to Europe and others represented 7.0% of net revenue, compared to 52.6%, 41.3% and 6.1%, respectively, in the third quarter and 61.8%, 31.8%, 6.4%, respectively, in the same period from last year.

On the books, cash and cash equivalents totaled $553.1 million at the end of the quarter which compares to $549.5 million in the same period from last year.

Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, commented:

This was a record breaking year for Canadian Solar.  Our track record of consistent and reliable execution continues to reinforce our competitive position and strong bankability.  This in turn is providing us with excellent support from financial institutions and investors worldwide.  The more than 4.7 GW of total solar module shipments in 2015 underscores the vast growth opportunities we see ahead in our key markets worldwide.  Equally important, we continue to make impressive progress in the buildout of our Energy or total solutions business, with 398 MW of solar plants in operation, a late-stage project pipeline totaling 2.0GW in execution, and an early stage project pipeline of 8.3 GW in development, 2.6 GW of which is in the U.S. and will benefit from the recent ITC extension.  This gives us considerable visibility into our earnings power, as well as flexibility over the timing of the potential launch of our own YieldCo.

Shares of Canadian Solar were trading down 10.2% at $19.52 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst price target of $35.24 and a 52-week trading range of $14.16 to $40.08.