SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWR) on Tuesday reported a GAAP net loss of USD 134.5 million (EUR 123.5m) for its first fiscal quarter (Q1) through April 2, and guided for a Q2 loss of USD 135 million-110 million.
The Q1 loss was lower than the one in the fourth quarter of 2016 of USD 275.1 million, but wider than the USD-85.4-million deficit booked a year earlier.
The US solar manufacturer and developer also announced that its majority owner Total SA (EPA:FP) has agreed to guarantee up to USD 100 million of its USD-300-million credit revolver facility for a period through August of 2019. By doing so, the French energy major “is expressing its continued support for SunPower in the current challenging solar environment”.
The table below gives more details about the company’s results.
| Figures in USD million |
Q1 2017 |
Q4 2016 |
Q1 2016 |
| GAAP revenue |
399.1 |
1,025 |
384.9 |
| GAAP gross margin (in %) |
(7.8) |
(3.1) |
13.4 |
| GAAP net profit (loss) |
(134.5) |
(275.1) |
(85.4) |
| Non-GAAP revenue |
429.5 |
1,097 |
433.6 |
| Non-GAAP gross margin (in %) |
6.5 |
6.4 |
16.5 |
| Non-GAAP net profit (loss) |
(50.4) |
3.3 |
(28.5) |
| Adjusted EBITDA |
8.6 |
71.4 |
19 |
| Operating cash flow |
(126.9) |
484.8 |
(369.9) |
SunPower president and CEO Tom Werner commented that the company has achieved its financial goals and manufacturing cost reduction targets for the quarter. It continues to execute its restructuring programme aimed at maximising cash flow, which, alongside liquidity, is viewed by the company as the key evaluation metrics for investors in the near term.
“In relation to our go-to-market strategy, given current industry conditions, we will further narrow our focus in our power plant development footprint and reallocate resources to ramping our SunPower Solutions equipment sales business, as well as our industry leading distributed generation business,” Werner said.
FORECASTS
For the second quarter of 2017, the company expects to report a revenue of USD 275 million to USD 325 million, a gross margin of negative 3% to negative 1%, and a net loss of USD 135 million to USD 110 million. On a non-GAAP basis, the revenue range is the same, while gross margin is seen to be positive at 2%-4%. Adjusted EBITDA is expected in the range of negative USD 25 million to breakeven.
SunPower expects to deploy between 330 MW and 360 MW during the three-month period. The non-GAAP guidance excludes about USD 13 million in above market polysilicon costs.
For the full year, SunPower forecasts GAAP revenue of USD 1.8 billion to USD 2.3 billion, non-GAAP revenue of USD 2.1 billion to USD 2.6 billion, non-GAAP operational expenses below USD 350 million, and capital expenditures of about USD 120 million. The company anticipates to deploy 1.3 GW to 1.6 GW in 2017. Full-year restructuring charges are seen at USD 50 million-USD 100 million.
SunPower projects that it will generate positive operating cash flow through the end of fiscal year 2017 and close it with some USD 300 million in cash. It also expects to book positive adjusted EBITDA for the full year. The 2017 non-GAAP guidance excludes around USD 100 million in above market polysilicon costs, it noted.
(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.918)
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Solar module by SunPower. Author: PSNH. License: Creative Commons, Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic
