SunPower sees narrowing net loss in Q3

SunPower research facility. Author: U.S. Department of the Interior. License: Creative Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWR) on Monday guided for a smaller net loss in the third quarter (Q3) of 2018 and said loss for the full year will range from USD 830 million (EUR 708m) to USD 860 million.

The US firm now expects to post a GAAP net loss of between USD 215 million and USD 195 million in July-September 2018, which compares to a loss of USD 447.1 million in the second quarter. Revenues are seen at USD 425 million-475 million, against USD 449.1 million in the April-June quarter.

The following table contains more details about the Q3 and FY guidance.

Figures in USD (except percentages)	Q3 2018	2018 new
GAAP revenue	425m-475m	N/A
GAAP gross margin	(1%)-1%	N/A
GAAP net loss	(215m)-(195m)	(830m)-(860m)
Non-GAAP revenue	450m-500m	N/A
Non-GAAP gorss margin	6%-8%	N/A
Adjusted EBITDA	(10m)-10m	95m-125m
Capacity deployed	400 MW-430 MW	N/A

SunPower, majority owned by Total SA (EPA:FP), noted that the forecasts include the impact related to the Section 201 trade case. For the third quarter, in particular, it has taken into account the impact of revenue and timing deferrals due to sale-leaseback transactions and charges related to its restructuring initiatives.

Meanwhile, Q3 guidance does not include the impact of the planned acquisition of Oregon-based solar panels manufacturer SolarWorld Americas and impact of timing differences related to certain asset sales. It added that projections for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) include about a USD-10-million inventory charge due to impairment of legacy manufacturing assets in the second quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA for 2018 was previously seen at between USD 75 million and USD 125 million.

Looking ahead, SunPower plans to further expand its US manufacturing capacity and, in line with that, it will complete the proposed acquisition of SolarWorld Americas, it said. After closing the deal it will make its proprietary P-Series technology at the SolarWorld Americas’ manufacturing base in Oregon.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.853)

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