Enphase Energy has cited the roll-out its fourth generation microinverter and an expanding commercial rooftop as factors behind its record quarterly revenue posted this week.
The microinverter market leader reported record third quarter 2013 revenue of US$62.0 million, up 7% from the previous quarter. The company also reported record non-GAAP gross margin of 28.3% and inline with longer-term goals to reach regular gross margins in the 30-35% range, supported by lower costs associated with the fourth genration ‘M250’ microinverter launch.
Enphase said that it shipped approximately 60,000 M250s which represented 15% of total unit shipments in the third quarter, which totalled 426,000 microinverters or the equivalent of 94MW.
Paul Nahi, CEO of Enphase said: “During the third quarter, we shipped approximately 60,000 M250s which represented 15% of total unit shipped during the quarter. The transition to our latest microinverter will continue over the next several quarters and we expect our fourth generation product will represent approximately 20% to 30% of total units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2013.”
Management noted in a conference call to discuss financial results that the ramp of the M250 would continue with expectations of accounting for 20-30% of shipments in the fourth quarter of 2013. Currently, Enphase is only supplying the M250 to the US market, with plans to introduce the product to the European and Australian markets later in 2014.
According to a recent report by market research firm, IHS microinverter shipments are set to reach to around 500MW in 2013, but will increase to 2.1GW in 2017.
Importantly, almost one-third of global microinverter shipments by 2017 are expected to support commercial PV systems installations, compared to only 9% in 2012. Enphase’s M250 series product is also targeted at the commercial rooftop market, having recently completed several milestone projects in that sector.
Increased sales and margins with stable operating expenses supported further reductions in Enphase’s operating and net losses in the quarter. The company reported an operating loss of US$2.9 million and a net loss of US$3.7 million in the quarter, suggesting the company could turn profitable on continuing sales and margin improvement in 2014, with a breakeven model with revenue at US$80 million per quarter and gross margins of 30%, according to management.
The company guided revenue for the fourth quarter to be in the range of US$62 million to US$65 million, which is an increase of 8% to 13% on a year-over-year basis, and gross margin expected to be in the range of 29% to 32%.
“Looking at the 2014 and beyond, we continue to be extremely bullish on the industry and see potential for significant growth of Enphase's business particularly in the US, the UK and Australia,” noted Nahi in the conference call.
