Renewable energy company JinkoSolar Holding (NYSE: JKS) reported an increase in second-quarter earnings, helped by strong revenue growth. The results also came in above Wall Street’s estimates. The company’s stock gained sharply early Friday following the announcement.
Sales up 14%
Total revenues were RMB6.91 billion ($1.01 billion), up 14% from the same period of last year and above analysts’ forecast. The growth was driven by an increase in shipments, which was partially offset by a decline in the average selling price.
During the quarter, total solar module shipments advanced 21.2% annually to 3,386 MW. The robust shipments and a marked decline in production costs pushed up gross margin to 16.5% from last year’s 12%.
Net Profit
Adjusted earnings climbed to RMB4.872 per ADS ($0.708 per ADS) from RMB2.708 per ADS in the second quarter of 2018. Reported net income was RMB125.41 million ($18.27 million), compared to RMB98.98 million in the prior-year quarter. Unadjusted earnings per ADS, meanwhile, dropped to RMB1.260 ($0.184).
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Kangping Chen, CEO of JinkoSolar, said, “2019 will be a milestone for the global solar industry as grid parity rapidly approaches. A number of emerging overseas markets are quickly reaching GW-level as the cost of PV power generation continues to decline, which is creating enormous opportunities for us and, our high-efficiency mono products in particular.”
What’s in Store
The company currently expects its third-quarter revenues to be in the range of $980 million to $1.07 billion, and gross margin between 18% and 20%. Total solar module shipments are estimated to be in the range of 3.2GW to 3.5GW.
For the whole of 2019, the management expects total solar module shipments to be in the 14-15GW range. Also, the annual silicon wafer, solar cell, and solar module production capacity are expected to reach 15 GW, 10.5GW and 16GW, respectively, by the end of the year.
Related: JinkoSolar Q1 2019 Earnings Conference Call Transcript
JinkoSolar shares have stayed positive since the beginning of 2019, recovering from last year’s multi-year lows. The stock has gained 45% in the past twelve months. It gained sharply during Friday’s premarket trading, after closing the previous session higher.