SunPower Q2 Profit Down 28%, But Beats View, Revenues Miss; Backs 2014 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Solar power products company SunPower Corp. (SPWR) on Thursday reported a 28 percent decline in profit for the second quarter from last year on a double-digit decline in revenues.

However, adjusted earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations while revenues missed their estimates. The company also provided financial outlook for the third quarter in line with Street estimates and affirmed its outlook for fiscal 2014.

The San Jose, California-based solar panel maker posted net income for the second quarter of $14.10 million or $0.09 per share, down from $19.57 million or $0.15 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the quarter was $43.91 million or $0.28 per share, compared to $62.81 million or $0.48 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.26 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

However, revenue for the quarter decreased 12 percent to $507.87 million from $576.52 million in the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, adjusted revenue of $621.07 million missed analysts' consensus estimate of $623.55 million.

Americas revenues also declined 12 percent from last year to $333.05 million, while EMEA revenues decreased 40 percent to $64.71 million. Meanwhile, APAC revenues grew 8 percent to $110.11 million.

Total operating expenses for the quarter increased 15 percent from last year to $87.36 million. Gross margin contracted 20 basis points to 18.5 percent, while adjusted gross margin was flat with last year at 19.5 percent.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, SunPower forecasts revenue of $575 million to $625 million, adjusted revenue of $600 million to $650 million, earnings of $0.00 to $0.20 per share, and adjusted earnings of $0.15 to $0.35 per share.

Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.29 per share on revenue of $636.82 million for the third quarter.

For fiscal year 2014, Sun Power affirmed its outlook for revenue of $2.55 billion to $2.70 billion, adjusted revenue of $2.50 billion to $2.65 billion, earnings of $0.75 to $1.05 per share and adjusted earnings of $1.10 to $1.40 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $1.31 per share on revenue of $2.59 billion for the year.

Tom Werner, President and CEO of SunPower said, "We are continuing to reduce our costs and with the ramp of our next generation technology and processes in Fab 4 starting in early 2015, we will further expand our cell efficiency leadership, lower manufacturing costs and increase capacity to meet the robust demand for our solutions."

SPWR closed Thursday's regular trading at $36.73, down $1.51 or 3.95 percent on a volume of 3.75 million shares. In after-hours, the stock further declined $1.88 or 5.12 percent to $34.85.