Solar module-level electronics rivals SolarEdge and Enphase reported their respective first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, allowing for a side-by-side comparison of their financial results.
Both of these firms were founded in roughly the same era and both tenaciously pioneered their respective module-level solutions. Both venture funded firms grew spectacularly and managed to reach the promised land of an initial public offering.
That’s where the companies’ respective performances seem to diverge. Both firms grew fast, along with the exploding residential solar market, but SolarEdge has been more inclined to make a consistent profit at a sustainable margin while showing growth and accurately meeting or exceeding guidance. Enphase has struggled to cut costs and keep up with the price declines across the residential solar supply stack — resulting in very slim margins and consistent quarterly losses.
Stripping away the aspirational CEO rhetoric, here are the earnings numbers and their brutal truth.
Guy Sella, CEO of SolarEdge: “In a quarter where the PV market is exhibiting decline in the United States, we have increased our revenues, profitability and cash flow generation quarter-over-quarter. Much of this is attributed to increased sales in Europe and our growing worldwide geographic spread.” He added, “We are confident that with our financial strength, cash balance and substantial R&D capabilities, we are well positioned to continue to increase revenues in existing markets and new markets as we see fit.”
Paul Nahi, CEO of Enphase, was less sanguine: “The first quarter of 2017 turned out to be more challenging than expected, and we were certainly disappointed with our financial results.”
During the first quarter of 2017, Enphase sold approximately 138 megawatts (AC), amounting to approximately 573,000 microinverters, a decrease in megawatts of 30 percent sequentially and 6 percent on a year-over-year basis. SolarEdge shipped 455 megawatts (AC) of inverters in the quarter, up from 413 megawatts (AC) of inverters shipped in the previous quarter.
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