JA Solar Revenues, Profits Jump on Sales in China

JA Solar continues shifting its sales model to include more modules and fewer cells. In the first quarter the company’s module shipments comprised nearly 86% of all shipments. The company attributes its 16% shipment growth to strong demand from China.

For the third quarter of 2015, JA Solar expects total cell and module shipments to range between 900 to 950 megawatts. The company shipped 790.8 megawatts in the second quarter and 681.5 megawatts in the first quarter of 2015.

The company’s CEO said:

We were pleased to close out the first half of the year with shipments higher than previous expectations due to strong demand in several key markets. Solid shipment growth was largely driven by demand in China, which represented 45% of our total shipments during the second quarter. … As we continue into the second half of the year, we expect industry demand to remain relatively strong, especially in China. We are focused on capturing greater market share in emerging markets, particularly in India and the Americas. Our growing market share and continued development of our downstream project portfolio, supported by the expansion of our manufacturing capacity, will be our key growth drivers for the next several quarters.

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Gross profit rose 20.8% year over year and 14.9% sequentially. Gross margin increased from 16.1% in the year-ago quarter to 16.4% and rose 0.3% sequentially. Operating expenses totaled 10.6% of revenues in the second quarter, compared with 11.5% a year ago and 9.9% in the first quarter of 2015.

Shares traded up about 3.2% early Tuesday, at $8.09 in a 52-week range of $6.67 to $10.80. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $11.83 before the results were announced. The high price target is $19.00.