Solar stocks jumped in Wednesday trading.
Enphase Energy up 36%; JinkoSolar up 17%; SolarEdge up 14%; Sunrun up 10%; Canadian Solar up 5%; First Solar up 1%.
Enphase Energy stock was getting a much-needed boost on Wednesday after the solar equipment maker’s fourth-quarter earnings and revenue. beat expectations.
The move higher came after Enphase reported adjusted earnings of 71 cents a share late Tuesday, as revenue dropped 10% from a year ago to $343 million. Analysts were expecting earnings 0f 59 cents a share on revenue of $338 million, according to a FactSet poll.
Enphase expects revenue of $270 million to $300 million for the current quarter. At the midpoint, that is well above the $269 million that Wall Street was forecasting.
Solar stocks took a battering last year after President Donald Trump’s signature tax bill cut Section 25D clean-energy subsidies, but they’ve rebounded in recent months. Enphase said on Tuesday that the sell-through demand for its products had climbed 21% in the fourth quarter, compared with a year ago.
It was “the strongest demand in over two years, as homeowners rushed to complete solar and battery installations before the Section 25D credit expired at year-end,” TD Cowen analyst Jeff Osborne wrote in a research note. Osborne, who rates the stock Hold, raised his price target to $40 from $35, citing the stronger-than-expected revenue guidance.
Revenue is likely to bottom out over the current quarter, the analyst added, noting that there is “potential for replenishment” over the second quarter “as new product cycles ramp and interest rate visibility improves.”
Still, headwinds remain. Enphase said its revenue for Europe had slumped 29% from a year ago due to softer demand and noted the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs hit its margin by 5.1 percentage points over the quarter.
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