Power product supplier Generac’s sales bounced back in the first three months of 2021, increasing 70% compared with the same period last year.
The distributed solar specialist recorded net sales of US$807 million during the first financial quarter, up from US$476 million in 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions started to disrupt the industry. This was largely driven by residential product sales, which more than doubled this quarter compared to Q1 last year, reaching US$542 million.
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Generac’s commercial and industrial (C&I) business, which had borne the brunt of the company’s lockdown losses across 2020, also “returned to growth” compared to the first three months of last year, said president and chief executive Aaron Jagdfeld, rising 18% to US$202 million.
Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter stood at US$214 million, accounting for 26.5% of net sales, up from last year’s figure of US$86 million.
Widespread power outages in Texas led to “an acceleration in demand” for the company’s power generators, Generac said in its first quarter results statement this week (29 April). However, increased sales were also supported by higher demand for its PWRcell energy storage systems due to “further progress” in forging new distribution partnerships and building out its energy storage business.
Jagdfeld called the results “tremendous”, noting that sales of its energy storage systems grew at “a significant rate as compared to the prior year, and with the considerable momentum we have in the marketplace, we are increasing our outlook for these products for the remainder of the year.”
