Reuters: Global Markets: SunPower forecast disappoints, shares slide

Reuters: Global Markets Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

SunPower forecast disappoints, shares slide Aug 8th 2012, 22:43 Wed Aug 8, 2012 6:43pm EDT (Reuters) - SunPower Corp (SPWR.O) posted better-than-expected second-quarter results on Wednesday, but the company disappointed Wall Street by forecasting a loss in the current quarter, and its shares fell after hours. Solar panel makers' profits have been hit by the steep decline in prices for the panels that turn sunlight into electricity because of a glut of supply and declining government subsidies for renewable energy. Still, SunPower's earnings excluding charges easily beat Wall Street's forecasts for a loss during the quarter and it said it was cutting costs faster than originally planned. SunPower, which is majority-owned by France's Total SA (TOTF.PA), also increased its share of the residential market in California, the biggest solar consumer in the United States. Earlier this year, the U.S. government imposed import duties of about 35 percent on solar equipment from China after ruling that companies there were receiving government subsidies and illegally dumping panels at below market costs. That was helping SunPower against Chinese rivals such as Suntech Power Holdings (STP.N), Yingli Green Energy (YGE.N) and Trina Solar (TSL.N) "I think there's been an impact that's meaningful, but not primary market driver for us," Chief Executive Tom Werner told Reuters. The company was also gaining sales in Japan, where it expects to earn nearly 10 percent of its revenue this year, and was making inroads into the Middle East, Africa, India and Australia, Werner said. NET LOSS SHRINKS SunPower said its net loss for the second quarter was $84.2 million, or 71 cents per share, compared with $147.9 million, or $1.51 per share, a year ago. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share were 8 cents, beating the 9 cent per share loss that analysts had forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company said it expected full-year revenue in a range of $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion, compared to its previous range of $2.6 billion to $3.0 billion. The change was largely due to the timing of large-scale projects in the United States and weaker-than-expected demand in Europe, where subsidies for solar have ebbed. For the third quarter, SunPower said it would post a loss excluding items in a range of 5 cents to 20 cents per share, lagging Wall Street expectations for a profit of 1 cent per share. Gross margin is expected to be 10 to 12 percent, slightly below the 15 percent it posted in the second quarter. Last week, thin-film solar maker First Solar (FSLR.O) posted an increase in quarterly profit and raised its forecast, sending its shares higher. Shares of SunPower fell 10 percent in extended trade to $4.20 per share. (Reporting By Matt Daily; Editing by Bernard Orr) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions