Canadian Solar reports better-than-expected Q1 results

Solar power company Canadian Solar (CSIQ) reported first-quarter earnings results that beat Wall Street expectations on both the top and bottom lines. Despite the upbeat results, the company’s share fell 3.51% during pre-market trading.

The company, which recently completed the sale of a solar energy project in Brazil, reported earnings of $0.72 per share, easily surpassing analysts’ estimate of $0.47 per share. The total revenue during the quarter more than doubled to $1.42 billion, above the street consensus of about $1.33 billion. Solar module shipments in the first quarter of 2018 were 1,374 megawatts (MW).

Canadian Solar recorded a gain on change in fair value of derivatives in the first quarter of 2018 of $4.5 million, compared to a loss of $7.8 million in the first quarter of 2017. Foreign exchange loss was $8.5 million, compared to a gain of $14.2 million in the prior year period.

For the second quarter, the company expects the total solar module shipments to be in the range of approx. 1.50 – 1.60 Gigawatt (GW). Revenue is expected to be in the range of $690 million to $730 million.

On May 14, Canadian Solar acquired the rights to an 8MW greenfield development project portfolio in South Korea.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO said, “We expect a shift in global demand to developing markets to offset China, India and the US. We also expect demand in other markets to improve, including Europe, Africa, Argentina and Mexico. These trends align themselves with the company’s global footprint and should serve as a catalyst for continued growth.”