Sunrun, a U.S.-based residential solar and battery storage provider, reported a 10% increase in total revenue of $504.27 million for the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 compared to $458.19 million in the same period of 2024. The revenue exceeds analysts’ expectations, which ranged from $484.8 million to $493.97 million,

The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was $80.01 million, higher than the analyst estimates of $58.17 million.

Its net loss widened to $277.17 million in Q1 2025 from a loss of $283.15 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. This increase was primarily attributed to a higher net interest expense of $227.43 million during the quarter, up from $192.16 million in Q1 2024. It also had additional expenses of $45.40 million compared to the additional income of $89.93 million earned in Q1 2024.

Mary Powell, CEO, Sunrun, highlighted a strong first quarter, stating, “In the first quarter, we exceeded our volume and cash generation targets in what is seasonally the slowest quarter of the year.”

She noted that the company also achieved market share gains and continued to reduce debt, paying $27 million in parent debt and ending the quarter with $605 million in unrestricted cash, a $30 million increase from the previous quarter. This increase helped the company gain considerable market share recently.

The company’s earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.22 and diluted EPS at $0.20 compared to the basic and diluted loss per share of $0.40 in the same quarter of the previous year.

Danny Abajian, Chief Financial Officer, Sunrun, stated, “We delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of positive cash generation and are reiterating our cash generation outlook for 2025. We have a strong balance sheet with no near-term corporate debt maturities and have paid down recourse parent debt by $214 million over the last four quarters, including a $27 million paydown using excess cash in Q1. As we increase our cash generation, we will continue to pay down parent recourse debt further and are committed to a capital allocation strategy beyond this initial de-leveraging period that drives significant shareholder value.”

Sunrun’s operating expenses for Q1 2025 decreased by 3% YoY to $619.16 million from $641.31 million. The cost of solar energy systems and product sales dropped to $96.80 million from $156.16 million in Q1 2024.

The company reported an aggregate subscriber value of $1.2 billion, a 23% increase from the same period in 2024. Contracted net value creation reached $164 million, or $0.72 per share, a 104% YoY growth. Sunrun also achieved its fourth consecutive quarter of positive cash generation, achieving $56 million in Q1 2025.

Contracted net earning assets stood at $2.6 billion, or $11.36 per share, which includes $979 million in total cash. Aggregate creation costs in Q1 2025 rose to $991 million, a 14% increase compared to Q1 2024. The creation cost per subscriber increased to $41,817, a 7% YoY growth.

Storage

Sunrun witnessed a significant surge in storage adoption, with customer additions, including storage, growing by 46% from the same period of the previous year. The storage attachment rate reached a record high of 69%, up from 50% in Q1 2024.

The company has installed more than 173,000 solar and storage systems of over 2.8 GWh of networked storage capacity.

Subscriber additions totaled 23,692 in Q1 2025, a 7% YoY increase from Q1 2024. As of March 31, 2025, Sunrun’s subscriber base reached 912,878, a 14% YoY increase. Storage capacity installed in the quarter was 334 MWh, a 61% increase from the same period of the previous year. Solar capacity installed reached 191 MW, an 8% YoY growth.

Powell explained the advantages of the company’s storage-first approach, saying, “Leading with a storage-first offering provides numerous financial benefits – subscribers with storage have higher upfront margins, and because it is more complex to sell, design, install, and service.”

Outlook

The company anticipates its aggregate subscriber value to range from $1.3 billion to $1.375 billion in Q2 2025, a 21% YoY growth at the midpoint. Contracted net value creation is projected to be between $125 million and $200 million, an 80% increase from the same quarter the previous year, with cash generation expected to be between $50 million to $60 million.

Powell highlighted the impact of the company’s artificial intelligence initiatives, stating that it unlocked 30% higher efficiency in the design process, improved turnaround times and accuracy, reduced costs, and increased sales realization. She added, “We are working on over a hundred AI initiatives across the company.”

For the full year 2025, Sunrun revised its cash generation guidance of $200 million to $500 million. It expects aggregate subscriber value to range from $5.7 billion to $6.0 billion, a 14% YoY increase at the midpoint. Contracted net value creation for the full year is anticipated to be between $650 million to $850 million, a 9% increase at the midpoint from 2024.

Sunrun reported a revenue of $518.49 million in Q4 2024, a mostly flat growth compared to $516.59 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The revenue also fell short of analysts’ expectations by $22.56 million.