US solar tracker provider FTC Solar has published its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2023, which includes revenue of US$23.2 million.
The figures are roughly in keeping with its recent financial performance, with the company posting revenue of US$30.5 million in the third quarter of the year and US$26.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. FTC Solar’s financial performance improved in some metrics between the third and fourth quarters of the year, with total operating expenses falling from US$19.7 million to US$12.4 million.
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While the latest figures show a contraction in revenue, they also represent something of a stabilisation of the company’s overall balance sheet, which had posted continual losses in the prior months. In the fourth quarter of 2022, FTC Solar posted net losses of US$20.5 million, which fell to US$16.9 million in the third quarter of 2023, and fell again to US$11.2 million in the final quarter of the year.
The graph below demonstrates how, despite these losses, the company’s balance sheet was more stable in 2023 than in 2022. While the first quarter of 2022 saw a two-year high in revenue, this figure collapsed to just US$16.6 million in the third quarter of the year, as US developers “[struggled] to obtain imported solar modules”, then-CEO Sean Hunkler said at the time, as the government sought to reduce its reliance on module imports from overseas.
The graph also demonstrates how the company struggled to meet its revenue forecasts for the second quarter of 2023. Despite targeting revenue as high as US$52.5 million, FTC Solar’s revenue sat at just US$32.4 million, with Hunkler suggesting at the time that: “Project delays, including some related to domestic content discussions around the Inflation Reduction Act, have continued to challenge us.”
FTC Solar’s uncertain recent financial results demonstrate both the external and internal challenges faced by US solar companies, despite widespread optimism that the US solar sector is growing faster than ever before. In the third quarter of last year, the company announced the departure of Hunkler from his position, alongside chief financial officer Phelps Morris, and filling these roles has become the new priority for the company.
“As it relates to our CEO succession plan, we have begun searching for our next CEO and have seen great interest,” said Shaker Sadasivam, chairman of the board of FTC Solar. “The board is focusing the processes on highly qualified candidates both within the industry and adjacent industries to identify a CEO capable of leading the company for a long tenure.”
Perhaps as a result of this emphasis, the company has made more conservative estimates for its upcoming financial results. The company expects to generate revenue of between US$10-15 million in the first quarter of 2024, a lower forecast than any made in 2023, and expects to record a non-GAAP gross loss of between US$1.8-3.8 million, compared to a non-GAAP gross profit of US$1.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
FTC Solar has notched up some noteable recent sales, including a deal to provide its Pioneer 1P tracker to Sandhill Energy’s 225MW Butler County solar project in the US state of Nebraska.
