SolarCity Posts $250 Million Net Loss Despite Increased Installations

The leading US solar developer SolarCity posted a $250 million net loss in the second quarter of 2016, despite exceeding installation guidance for the quarter.

SolarCity published its second quarter earnings this week to shareholders, highlighting what good news it could in its Shareholders Letter. However, nothing could hide the $250 million net loss that the company posted this past quarter, up nearly $100 million over the same time a year earlier — translating to a loss of $0.56 per share. However, the company’s shares have remained relatively steady this week.

The company reported a total 201 MW installed for the quarter, exceeding previous guidance of 185 MW by 9%, while the total “MW Booked” grew by 42% quarter over quarter. SolarCity was pleased to announce that the cost per watt had declined, down to $3.05 per watt.

Specifically, SolarCity installed 177 MW worth of residential solar in the quarter, up 5% year over year, and 24 MW of commercial and industrial solar, up 14% year over year.

“We’ve experienced strong and steadily increasing traction for our new solar loan and further growth in residential bookings in July,” said Lyndon Rive, SolarCity CEO, in his letter to the shareholders (PDF). “More importantly, we have launched several initiatives to improve sales efficiency, and bookings per salesperson increased 23% in July as compared to the prior month. We’re also receiving growing interest in our grid services offerings for utilities and obtaining higher pricing on new commercial bookings.”

Looking forward, SolarCity is expecting to only install 170 MW in the third quarter due to the fewer megawatts booked in the first quarter. However, with a pick-up in July bookings, and the generally strong commercial and industrial seasonal period, SolarCity is expecting to install between 315 MW and 415 MW in the fourth quarter. This will result in a total 900 MW to 1,000 MW installed for 2016.

However, this is still down on the company’s original expectation. Announced earlier this month, in advance of its official financial earnings, SolarCity downgraded its 2016 guidance from 1,000 MW to 1,110 MW down to the aforementioned 900 MW to 1,000 MW.

Net loss is expected to continue into the third quarter, with SolarCity predicting a “Non-GAAP Loss Per Share” of between $2.55 and $2.65.

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