Maxeon posts Q4 2022 revenue beat, increased shipments, stock up 44%

Solar module manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies posted Q4 2022 earnings with strong revenue generation of $324 million, slightly ahead of the market consensus $316 million, and up 46.3% from $221.5 million in revenue generated in Q4 2021.

Module shipments of 734 MW were above ROTH MKM Partners’ estimate of 699 MW, and a 27.2% improvement over 577 MW shipped in Q4 2021. Maxeon’s quarterly average sale price of $0.44/W was slightly under ROTH MKM’s estimate of $0.46/W.

Following the positive earnings results, Maxeon’s stock spiked up by 44% to $27 per share from $18.75 per share a day earlier,

“After more than two years of investment in significant transformation initiatives, Maxeon’s financial performance is improving rapidly,” said Bill Mulligan, chief executive officer of Maxeon. “The company’s gross profit increased to $20 million in the fourth quarter due to strong operational performance and prudent supply chain management, a record for Maxeon.”

Mulligan became CEO of Maxeon effectively on January 23, 2023. A solar veteran, Mulligan was previously chief operating officer of Sila Nanotechnologies, and before that, CEO of SolarBridge, a microinverter company sold to Enphase Energy in June 2018.  Before SolarBridge, Mulligan was Executive Vice President of Global Operations for Maxeon’s predecessor, SunPower, where he led development and commercialization of the first mass-produced Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar cells.

Headquartered in Singapore, Maxeon manufactures Maxeon and SunPower brand solar panels, and has sales operations in more than 100 countries, operating under the SunPower brand outside of the U.S. Maxeon’s products span the global rooftop and solar power plant markets through a network of more than 1,700 partners and distributors.

Effective August 27, 2020, Maxeon became a separately traded company from SunPower as the U.S. solar pioneer’s former module manufacturing business.

Guidance

In Q1 2023, Maxeon projects further progress leading to positive adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first time since its August 2020 corporate spin-out from SunPower. The company provided Q1 2023 guidance of $305 million to $345 million revenue, driven by shipments of 730 MW to 770 MW, higher than ROTH MKM’s prior estimate of 729 MW.

For 2023, the company provided guidance of $1.35 billion to $1.55 billion revenue. Adjusted EBITDA was guided to reach $80 million to $100 million, a noticeable improvement over the market consensus of $37 million and prior ROTH MKM estimate of negative $25 million.

“The U.S. utility-scale business is poised for further growth with cumulative bookings now 4.2 GW extending deep into 2025 plus options with advance deposits for an additional 1.5 GW through 2027,” Mulligan said in a company statement.