SunPower profit leaps on rising solar panel sales
Thursday January 29, 6:12 pm ET
Sunpower profit surges on increased demand for solar panels in US and Europe
SAN JOSE, Calif., (AP) -- Solar power company SunPower Corp. said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit grew nearly fivefold on increased solar panel sales in the U.S. and Europe.
For the period ended Dec. 28 the company posted a profit of $29.6 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with $4.9 million, or 6 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Revenue grew nearly 80 percent to $401 million for the period.
Adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation and other one-time items, the company would have earned 70 cents per share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of 57 cents on revenue of $397.2 million.
For the full-year the company earned $92.3 million, or $1.09 per share, compared with $9.2 million, or 11 cents per share. Full-year revenue grew to $1.43 billion from $774 billion.
Adjusted earnings per share were $2.28 per share. Analysts predicted $2.15 per share.
The company said it opened 350 dealerships for the year targeting residential and small-business customers.
For the current year SunPower said it expects earnings per share between $2.20 and $2.80 on revenue between $1.6 billion and $2 billion.
Analysts expect earnings per share of $2.64 on revenue of $1.88 billion.
"The long-term solar industry fundamentals remain very positive," said Dennis Arriola, SunPower's chief financial officer. "Given the continuing weak credit environment, our ability to meet the high-end of the revenue and earnings-per-share ranges will be dependent on improved access to the project financing markets."
Shares of SunPower Corp. rose $3.02, or 10.5 percent, to $31.70 in after-hours trading. Shares fell $1.80, or 5.9 percent, to close at $28.68 in regular trading.
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