Why SolarEdge Is Thursday’s Biggest Earnings Winner

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 3:20AM EST · Published Feb 15, 12:15PM EST

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Why SolarEdge Is Thursday’s Biggest Earnings Winner — © Thinkstock

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) saw its shares make a huge gain on Thursday after the company reported its most recent quarterly results late on Wednesday. The company said that it had $0.85 in earnings per share (EPS) on $189.3 million in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for $0.63 in EPS and $179.8 million in revenue.

During the quarter, revenues reached a record level, adding 14% sequentially and 70% year over year.

At the same time, the company shipped 766 megawatts (AC) of inverters. For the full year, SolarEdge shipped 2.5 gigawatts (AC) of inverters.

Looking ahead to the first quarter, the company expects to see revenues in the range of $200 million to $210 million and gross margin of 36% to 38%. The consensus estimates call for $0.56 in EPS on $168.94 million in revenue.

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Cash flow from operating activities was $45.8 million, up from $33.6 million in the prior quarter and from $24.7 million a year ago. On the books, SolarEdge cash and cash equivalents totaled $163.16 million at the end of the quarter, up from $104.7 million in the same period from last year.

Guy Sella, founder, board chair and chief executive of SolarEdge, commented:

We ended the fourth quarter and full year of 2017 with record results in our key financial and operational metrics. We grew our revenues in each of the geographies in which we operate and overcame a challenging year in terms of industry-wide component availability and growing our manufacturing capacity to support the growing demand for our products. We expanded our gross margin by keeping our ASP stable, continuing our cost reduction initiatives and increased profitability and cash flow generation while maintaining and even increasing our investments in R&D and customer support and growing our geographic footprint.

Shares of SolarEdge were last seen up about 22% at $44.92 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst price target of $39.90 and a 52-week trading range of $13.50 to $45.45.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.