SunPower Corporation, a distributed generation storage and energy services provider, announced the financial results for the third quarter of the calendar year 2020 (Q3 2020).

The company posted a GAAP revenue of $274.8 million (~₹20.44 billion), an increase of 26% compared to $217.7 million (~₹16.19 billion) in Q2 2020. The figure was slightly lower than $286 million (~₹21.27 billion), a decrease of 3.9% during the same period last year.

The company ended the quarter with $325 million (~₹24.17 billion) in cash, an increase of 38% compared to $235.3 million (~₹17.49 billion) at the end of Q2 2020.

The company posted a net loss of $6.5 million (~₹483.4 million), a decrease of 62% compared to $17.2 million (~₹1.27 billion) last quarter. The figure was slightly lower than $9.1 million (~₹676.7 million), a decrease of 29% compared to Q3 2019.

In the quarter, the company successfully split into two companies-SunPower and Maxeon Solar Technologies. While SunPower will focus on the distributed energy storage and services, Maxeon designs and sells SunPower brand solar panels across more than 100 countries with access to over 900 patents.

“Maxeon, taking its name from our well-established solar cell solution, will focus on scaling its panel technology, while SunPower will become a pure-play distributed solar, storage, and energy services company,” said Tom Werner, CEO of the company.

The company registered adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBIDTA) of $8.6 million (~₹639.6 million), compared to $4.3 million (~₹319.8 million) in Q2 2020. The figure was significantly lower than $25.1 million (~₹1.86 billion), a decrease of 66% compared to Q3 2019.

The Q3 GAAP gross margin for continuing operations of 13.5% fell from 15.9% a year ago but rose from 11.8% in Q2 2020.

For the full year, the company raised its forecast for GAAP revenues to $1.12 billion (~₹83.29 billion)- 1.16 billion (~₹86.27 billion) from its previous outlook of $1.06 billion (~₹78.83 billion)-$1.1 billion (~₹81.81 billion). It raised its forecast for adjusted EBITDA to $30 million (~₹2.23 billion)-40 million (~₹2.97 billion), compared to previous guidance of $20 million (~₹1.48 billion)-$30 million (~₹2.23 billion).

“Our solid Q3 results reflect the strong demand for our industry-leading solutions in both our residential and commercial markets. Overall, we expanded our gross margin, generated positive cash flow and added to our significant backlog. Additionally, we are pleased with the customer response to our recent product introductions as demand for our SunVault residential storage solution remains very strong. At the same time, we continue to add partners for our OneRoof product for the new homes market. We expect these positive trends to continue in the fourth quarter,” added Tom Werner.

In the conference call, Werner added, “New Homes also performed well with record quarterly bookings for Q3 resulting in a record backlog of more than 180 megawatts. Our market share remains above 50% with significant interest in our OneRoof product for many of our builder partners.”

The company expects its battery storage solution SunVault to contribute to approximately $100 million in revenue in 2021. 10,000 customers were added in the Q3 quarter alone.

Werner confirmed that 85% of all residential sales volumes in Q3 were through online or virtual sales. He also added that SunPower’s loan economics were better as the company has started to service its own loans.

The company’s total current assets stood at $861,328 (~₹64.06 million), and the company’s current liabilities stood at $754,298 (~₹56.09 million).

In May this year, SunPower announced a partnership of $1 billion (~₹74.97 billion) with Technology Credit Union (Tech CU), one of California’s leading credit unions. The new partnership is expected to increase financing options for U.S. residential solar customers and give SunPower the much-needed access to capital for its loan program.