Canadian Solar meets Q2 forecasts but further trims 2024 outlook

Solar manufacturer Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ) on Thursday once again lowered its full-year revenue guidance while reporting declines in net attributable profit, revenues and gross margin for the second quarter of 2024.

The company now expects total revenue for 2024 to range between USD 6.5 billion (EUR 5.8bn) and USD 7.5 billion, as compared to an earlier forecast of USD 7.3 billion- 8.3 billion. Total module shipments are anticipated to be within the 32 GW-36 GW range, rather than the earlier given 35 GW-40 GW range.

For the third quarter, the company guides for revenues of between USD 1.6 billion and USD 1.8 billion and gross margin of 14%-16%.

Canadian Solar closed the April-June trimester with a net attributable profit of USD 4 million, slumping from USD 170 million a year back and falling from USD 12 million in the preceding quarter. At USD 1.6 billion, net revenues dropped by 31% in annual terms due to the lower average selling prices of photovoltaic (PV) modules and lower project sales. Still, the result improved sequentially by 23% thanks to a higher solar module shipment volume.

"We achieved solid results in the second quarter of 2024, with shipments, revenue, and gross margin meeting or surpassing our previous guidance,” said CEO and chairman Shawn Qu. He expressed hopes for the market to stabilise in the second half of the year.

Total module shipments in the three months amounted to 8.2 GW, rising 30% on a quarterly basis but staying consistent in annual terms.

Canadian Solar’s gross margin totalled 17.2%, as compared to 19% in the first quarter and 18.6% in the second quarter of 2023. The yearly drop stemmed mostly from the decreased module sale prices and a lowered divestment level of solar power and battery energy storage assets.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.899)

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