Solar tracker manufacturer Array Technologies said it beat expectations during Q3 despite a slide in year-on-year revenue associated with shifting purchase patterns.
And the company, publishing its maiden set of accounts since its listing on the Nasdaq exchange last month, is plotting an international expansion to help bolster its order book moving into next year.
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The solar tracker manufacturer reported Q3 revenue of US$139.5 million in Q3, a drop it attributed to changes in seasonal order patterns caused by the US Investment Tax Credit (ITC) incentivising orders to be placed in Q3 or Q4 and delivered in Q1 or Q2, meaning Array now expects its revenue to be more skewed towards the first half of the year.
Despite the fall in revenue, Array said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the period – US$16.6 million – beat expectations.
For the first nine months of the year, Array recorded revenues of US$692.1 million – up nearly two-thirds (64%) on the first nine months of 2019 – and EBITDA of US$140.5 million, almost double the amount it recorded in the corresponding period last year.
It has given full-year guidance for revenue to be in the US$845 – 865 million range, with EBITDA to fall in the range of US$156 – 160 million.
Furthermore, the company said it had US$703 million of executed contracts and awarded orders at the end of Q3, a 31% increase on its order book at the same time last year.
“Since the close of the quarter, customer activity has increased, and we are in advanced discussions on a number of sizable new orders,” Jim Fusaro, chief executive at Array Technologies, said.
Fusaro also pointed to an expansion in orders outside of its home market in the US, with the company beginning to see the results of groundwork laid in this direction, with several orders currently being negotiated for projects overseas.
Fusaro told analysts in an investor call following results that orders from outside the US currently account for around 10% of the firm’s revenue, with this set to increase as Fusaro said the revenue split would “materially change” moving into next year.
It’s the first time Array Technologies has publicly disclosed and discussed its quarterly results since its IPO last month. That offering was upscaled on the back of surging interest, with the company eventually scoring net proceeds of US$140.2 million, used to pay down an existing loan.
The supplier’s stock price soared by nearly 25% on the back of the performance, topping out at US48.20, more than double the US$22 stocks were available at during the offering.
