Contractors install SunRun solar panels on the roof of a home in San Jose, California, on Monday, February 7, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures
Enphase Energy is setting its sights on Europe, as Russia Invades Ukraine pushed electricity prices to record highs, giving homeowners a “strong desire” for energy independence.
Chief executive officer Badri Kothandaraman said on Tuesday that the company is “down three times more than Europe in spending.” The following comments of the company first quarter earningsbeat analyst expectations at the top and bottom.
Here’s how Enphase did against analyst expectations, compiled by Refinitiv:
- Income: 79 cents per share, adjusted, versus 67 cents expected
- Turnover: $441 million versus $432 million expected.
Enphase, which makes micro-inverters and backup energy storage for solar power systems, reported record revenue for the period, with revenue up 46 percent year-on-year. . Enphase also gave upbeat guidance for the current period, saying it expects $490 million to $520 million. This is higher than the $475 million that analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected.
Shares were 6% higher in extended trading Tuesday night.
“We expect our momentum in Europe to continue with more than 40% sequential revenue growth expected in Q2 compared to Q1,” Kothandaraman said on the company’s earnings call. company. “We are continuing to expand the team and are excited about our growth in the region.”
The company has current operations in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. New markets in Europe include Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Enphase has traditionally focused on the US, and in the first quarter, the region accounted for 84% of the company’s revenue.
Kothandaraman says supply chain problems – including missing parts and commodity prices increase – continue to fall. These headwinds have been felt across sectors as the economy recovers from the pandemic.
“The situation regarding component availability is clearly much better than last year … we have learned to reduce our risk,” he said. “I can’t predict what will happen tomorrow, but I can say right now our situation is pretty stable,” he added.
The company’s gross margin for the first quarter was 40.1%, up from 39.6% in the previous quarter. Enphase raised prices in 2022, after also raising prices last fall, in an attempt to combat rising raw material costs.
Policy uncertainty has also affected the market performance of Enphase – and other solar companies.
In March, the Commerce Department said it was opening an investigation that could lead to tariffs on solar panel imports from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. These four countries account for 80% of US panel imports.
The case was brought by California-based Auxin Solar, which claims that Chinese companies have avoided tariffs by shifting production to these four other countries.
Industry advocates, including the Solar Energy Industry Association, have said extending the tariffs would hurt US solar construction.
Kothandaraman echoed this view, saying the investigation creates “major uncertainty” in the market and will result in lost US jobs, higher electricity prices for consumers and more imports from China. Country.
“We hope that the current administration will take this matter seriously and resolve it quickly – before the proposed timeframe in August,” he said. Kothandaraman added that the way to support domestic production is through tax incentives.
In addition to inverters and batteries, Enphase is expanding into other categories in an effort to become a one-stop shop for energy management. The company will begin offering electric vehicle chargers through distributors and solar installers this quarter. Later this year, the company plans to start producing its own EV chargers.
