SolarEdge to miss Q3 forecast as high inventory disrupts orders

Israel-based photovoltaic (PV) inverters supplier SolarEdge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SEDG) on Thursday said it expects third-quarter earnings and revenue to stand below the low end of its guidance due to unexpected order cancellations.

The “substantial” project cancellations and pushouts of existing backlog from European distributors were witnessed mainly in the second part of the July-September quarter. “We attribute these cancellations and pushouts to higher than expected inventory in the channels and slower than expected installation rates. In particular, installation rates for the third quarter were much slower at the end of the summer and in September where traditionally there is a rise in installation rates,” explained CEO Zvi Lando.

According to preliminary unaudited results, SolarEdge will book revenues of between USD 720 million (EUR 679m) and USD 730 million in the third quarter, against an outlook of USD 880 million-USD 920 million. Due to the annulled orders, non-GAAP operating profit is anticipated to fall within the USD 12 million-USD 31 million range, while the forecast was for earnings of between UD 115 million and USD 135 million. Non-GAAP gross margin is seen at 20.1%-21.1%, rather than 28%-31%.

GAAP operating loss and margin are projected to be within the USD 9 million-USD 28 million and 19%-20% range, respectively.

Looking ahead, SolarEdge expects to record a ”significant” drop in fourth-quarter revenues amid the continuing inventory destocking process.

SolarEdge registered record revenues and operating profit for the second quarter of 2023 after its performance received a major push from the European residential and commercial solar segments.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.943)

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