SolarCity, which is down more than 50 percent over the past year, just released its Q4 2015 earnings. The market has reacted negatively, with the stock trading down about 30 percent after-hours at a price of around $17.50 per-share.
While Q4 revenue of $115M and loss of $2.37 per share beat estimates of $111M in revenue and a loss of $2.59 per share, the company’s Q1 2016 forecast was lower than expected. Additionally, the company missed its quarterly installation estimates for Q4, installing 272 MW, below the guidance of 280 MW – 300 MW.
In its shareholder letter, SolarCity said they expect to install 180 MW of solar panels in Q1 2016, which represents 18 percent year-over-year growth, but a 34 percent decline compared to the previous quarter.
While some seasonal slowdown for Q1 is normal, the company said that this estimate reflects a “higher-than-usual” seasonal slowdown.
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The company also noted that recent federal legislative extensions will ensure that solar will be included in fossil fuel tax credits for at least the next five years, which will obviously prove beneficial to the company’s balance sheet.
However, the letter shares that the Nevada Utilities Commission also recently eliminated “favorable tariffs relied upon to deploy solar,” which caused the company to close all operations in the state.
Lastly, the company reiterated that it continues to target a total of 1.25 GW of solar power installed, with the goal of generating positive cash by the end of the year.