SunPower announced financial guidance for fiscal year 2015 and updated GAAP financial guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. The new guidance shows SunPower’s confidence in next year’s market while the company will also review its Yieldco vehicle business.
For fiscal year 2015, SunPower expects non-GAAP revenue of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion, gross margin of 21% to 23%, net income per diluted share of $1.10 to $1.50, capital expenditures of $300 million to $350 million and GW recognized in the range of 1.3 GW to 1.4 GW. On a GAAP basis, the company expects revenue of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion, gross margin of 21% to 23% and net income per diluted share of $0.55 to $0.95. The company's 2015 guidance excludes any financial impact that may occur if SunPower decides to pursue the formation of a separately-traded Yieldco vehicle, which is currently under review. The company will update its 2015 guidance if it decides to pursue this strategy.
SunPower also announced that it expects to triple upstream capacity over the next five years. This capacity expansion includes completion of the company's fourth solar cell fabrication facility, Fab 4, 800 MW of planned solar cell and panel manufacturing capacity in Fab 5, and more than 1 GW additional capacity of Low Concentration PV (LCPV), which leverages the company's high efficiency solar cell capacity by up to a factor of ten. SunPower will provide additional details about these capacity expansions at key milestone stages.
SunPower also updated its fourth quarter 2014 GAAP financial guidance to reflect the benefit of approximately $450 million in revenue and $0.80 - $0.90 in earnings per share related to the real estate accounting treatment of its 579-MW Solar Star projects. The company now expects fourth quarter 2014 GAAP revenue of $1.12 billion to $1.17 billion, gross margin of 26 percent to 28 percent and net income per diluted share of $1.00 to $1.25. Fourth quarter 2014 non-GAAP guidance remains unchanged.
SunPower will discuss its fiscal year 2015 outlook during its 2014 Analyst Day to be held today, Nov. 13, 2014, starting at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Events and Presentations section of the SunPower Investor Relations page: investors.sunpower.com/events.cfm.