A research note released by Deutsche Bank indicates that SunPower could announce to expand its PV production capacity as much as 750 MW. Yet, in SunPower’s press release of 2Q14 financial results, the company only notes that it will start constructing a 350MW facility in early 2015.
Since the second half of 2013, SunPower’s capacity has been constrained. The new 350MW “Fab 4” in Philippines, which would lead solar cell and module technology to the next generation, was announced in 2013; SunPower further announced “Fab 5” in February 2014, another major facility. PV Tech points out that the previously announced 1.4GW Malaysian “Fab 3” has not yet fully equipped, and the 750MW expansion mentioned by Deutsche Bank could be in relation to this facility.
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| SunPower's capacity expansion plan. (Photo Credit: SunPower) |
Tom Werner, SunPower president and CEO, stated: "We are continuing to reduce our costs and with the ramp of our next generation technology and processes in Fab 4 starting in early 2015, we will further expand our cell efficiency leadership, lower manufacturing costs and increase capacity to meet the robust demand for our solutions.”
2Q14 Financial Results
SunPower released its financial results of 2Q14. The GAAP revenue stood US$508 million and non-GAAP revenue was US$621 million. During the same period, the GAAP earnings per share was US$0.09 and non-GAAP earnings per share was US$0.28.
The results are:
|
(US$ Millions, except percentages and per-share data) |
2nd Quarter 2014 |
1st Quarter 2014 |
2nd Quarter 2013 |
|
GAAP revenue |
$507.9 |
$692.4 |
$576.5 |
|
GAAP gross margin |
18.5% |
23.5% |
18.7% |
|
GAAP net income |
$14.1 |
$65.0 |
$19.6 |
|
GAAP net income per diluted share |
$0.09 |
$0.42 |
$0.15 |
|
Non-GAAP revenue |
$621.1 |
$683.7 |
$650.0 |
|
Non-GAAP gross margin |
19.5% |
22.0% |
19.5% |
|
Non-GAAP net income |
$43.9 |
$75.3 |
$62.8 |
|
Non-GAAP net income per diluted share |
$0.28 |
$0.49 |
$0.48 |