In its first quarter as a publicly owned company, US-based Vivint Solar announced Monday relatively good figures for the third quarter, with significant increases over a majority measures.
However, despite strong gains, the company reported a loss of 66 cents a share across the quarter, causing some further fluctuation on the New York Stock Exchange.
“I am pleased with our performance in the third quarter. Vivint Solar continues to build momentum,” said Greg Butterfield , Vivint Solar’s CEO. “This year, the business is on track to more than double the megawatts we installed in all the previous years combined.”
The Utah-based company booked approximately 62 MW worth of orders in the third quarter, up 206% over the same time a year ago, and installed 49 MW, up 196%, bringing the total cumulative installed up to 178 MW as of September 30, 2014.
This cumulative total also helps explain the high percentage increases, when their Q3’14 MW installed amounts to over 25% of the company’s cumulative total.
Total revenue was therefore up as well, reaching past $8.3 million for the third quarter, up from $2.27 million a year earlier. This brought their 2014 total revenue up to $18.3 million, up significantly from $4.2 million at the same time a year earlier — but once again, this is mostly representative of a fledgling company enjoying early success.
Back in August, when the news first broke that Vivint Solar would file for an IPO and compete with US giant SolarCity, the decision seemed a no-brainer. At the time, Vivint Solar was only second to SolarCity in the US residential solar installation industry, though trailing from a distance.
However, Vivint’s guidance for the fourth quarter took analysts by surprise, and shook the company’s share price. Vivint are expecting to install between 45 to 47 MW in the fourth quarter, and rake in a total revenue between $5.5 and $6.5 million — both down on third quarter results (as seen above, Vivint installed 49 MW in the third quarter, and took in revenue of $8.3 million).
So, it is relatively unsurprising that the stock took a hit, given that any new company needs to hold on to strong, but more importantly, sustained strong growth over its initial quarters. That Vivint is expecting such a drop in the fourth quarter does not bode well.
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