SunPower (SPWR) Set to Post Q4 Earnings: What's in Store?
SunPower Corporation SPWR is slated to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 16, after the closing bell.
In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 200.00%. It also boasts a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 113.33%.
Factors to Note
SunPower has been witnessing strong growth in its residential business for the past couple of quarters. Buoyed by solid residential demand and favorable federal policies, a similar growth trend in its residential business is expected to have prevailed in the fourth quarter as well, thereby boosting its quarterly revenues. Also, a slight improvement in its commercial business, with the economy gradually recovering from the initial adverse impacts of COVID-19 must have contributed favorably to the company’s top line.
On the first-quarter earnings call, SunPower had stated that it anticipates solid growth of SunVault in the second half of 2021, with the company having resumed the full rollout of the product to additional dealers beginning in June. This is likely to have positively impacted the company’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter.
SunPower Corporation Price and EPS Surprise
SunPower Corporation price-eps-surprise | SunPower Corporation Quote
Moreover, during the middle of the fourth quarter, SunPower launched its Virtual Power Plant (VPP) solution, enabling SunVault energy storage customers to get paid for allowing the utility to use stored energy during peak demand and contribute to a more stable power grid in their community. This, in turn, might have favored its performance in the to-be-reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter revenues is pegged at $370.9 million, suggesting growth of 8.5% from the year-ago reported figure.
Exceptional performance in top-of-funnel lead generation activity within its residential business is expected to have boosted SunPower’s margin, thereby boosting its bottom-line performance. However, headwinds like project schedule delays along with higher labor and supply chain costs might have marred these positive impacts, thereby hurting the stock’s earnings in the soon-to-be-reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 4 cents per share, suggesting a deterioration of 71.4% from the year-ago quarter.
What the Zacks Model Unveils
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for SunPower this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.
Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is -145.46%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: SunPower currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Upcoming Releases
Here are three solar players that are yet to release their Q4 numbers:
First Solar FSLR currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its Q4 earnings, pegged at $1.07, implies a slip of 0.9% from the prior-year quarter.
The company boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 7.4%. First Solar has a four-quarter earnings surprise of 19.01%.
SolarEdge Technologies SEDG currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its Q4 earnings, pegged at $1.29, implies an improvement of 31.6% from fourth-quarter 2020 earnings.
The company boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 21.1%. SolarEdge has a four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.26%.
Azure Power Global AZRE currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter is pegged at a loss of 2 cents, implying an improvement from the fourth-quarter 2020 reported loss.
The company’s Q4 sales estimate, pegged at $56.7 million, indicates an improvement of 17.6% from the year-ago quarter reported figure. AZRE has a four-quarter earnings surprise of 48.30%.
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