SunPower reports US$1.52 billion revenue in 2009: Guides US$2.0 billion plus in 2010

SunPower Corp has reported record fourth quarter revenue of US$548 million, which helped push 2009 total revenues to US$1.52 billion, a 6% increase over 2008. SunPower guided revenue for 2010 would be between US$2.00 and US$2.25 billion and heavily weighted to large-scale utility projects in the second half of the year. The SunRay Renewable Energy acquisition will add 1.2GW to its project pipeline, which the company said was now standing at 4GW. The company reached a cost per watt of slightly below US$2.00 in the fourth quarter.

"Our 2009 year-end results reflect the continued success of our portfolio strategy to channels and geographic markets as we further expanded our global dealer presence and completed construction of more than 40 megawatts (MW) of large scale power plant projects during the fourth quarter," commented Tom Werner, SunPower's CEO. "In the past four years, we have invested heavily in our long-term strategy of building our brand and channel, and this investment continues to pay off.”

Fourth quarter production reached 130MW, up from 110MW in the third quarter. Total internal cell production reached 397.5MW in 2009. The company guided production to reach 550MW in 2010 as it ramps Fab 3 in Malaysia. Capital spending will be between US$375 and US$475 million for 2010 and will be primarily dedicated to the ramp of Fab 3.

"Looking forward, our acquisition of SunRay positions us for more predictable growth in the second half of 2010 and into 2011,” noted Dennis Arriola, SunPower's CFO. “By extending into the development business, we expect to expand our gross profits as we monetize these power plants. We will strategically use our balance sheet to accelerate the development of these projects. This strategy will significantly shift the timing of revenue of these projects from the first half of the year to the second half of 2010."