Sunrun's (RUN) Earnings Miss Estimates In Q4, Revenues Beat

Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN) reported fourth-quarter 2018 loss of 5 cents per share, comparing unfavorably with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of 46 cents. The bottom line also deteriorated from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of 63 cents.

For 2018, Sunrun’s earnings came in at 23 cents per share, down 80.2% from the prior-year quarter’s earnings of $1.16. The figure also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 76 cents by 69.7%.

Revenues

Sunrun’s revenues of $240.1 million in the quarter surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $177.5 million by 35.3%. Revenues also surged 57.7% from the year-ago quarter’s $152.3 million.

For 2018, Sunrun’s revenues were $760 million that surged 42.7% from the prior-year quarter’s $532.5 million. The figure also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $683.4 million by 11.2%.

Operational Highlights

Total operating expenses were $246.8 million in the fourth quarter, which increased 24% year over year. Operating expenses in the reported quarter increased on escalated costs of customer agreements and incentives, high cost of solar energy systems and product sales, increased sales and marketing costs, elevated research and development expenses and higher costs incurred on amortization of intangible assets.

Interest expenses were $37.2 million, up approximately 40.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Total cost of revenues was $154.4 million that witnessed an increase of 23% year over year.

Key Highlights

In the reported quarter, Megawatt (MW) deployed increased to 115 MW from 85 MW in the fourth quarter of 2017, recording a 35.3% increase.

Creation Cost per watt was $3.17 in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with $3.30 in the fourth quarter of 2017. NPV created in the fourth quarter of 2018 was $116 million, reflecting 28% year-over-year increase.

The company also added more than 50,000 customers in 2018, growing customer base 29% year over year to 233,000.

Financial Performance

Sunrun had $226.6 million of cash, as of Dec 31, 2018, up from $202.5 million at the end of 2017.

Net cash used in operating activities was $811.3 million at 2018 end, up from $777.3 million a year ago.

Total recourse and non-recourse debt, net of current portion was $1,713.4 million at the end of 2018 compared with $1,273.4 million as of Dec 31, 2017.

First Quarter and Full-Year 2019 Guidance

For the first quarter of 2019, Sunrun expects deployments to be in the range of 83-85 MW. For 2019, the company expects deployments to grow 16-18% year over year.

Zacks Rank

Sunrun currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Solar Releases

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWR) reported fourth-quarter 2018 adjusted loss of 21 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 38 cents.

SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ:SEDG) reported fourth-quarter 2018 adjusted earnings of 63 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 70 cents by 10%.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) reported fourth-quarter 2018 earnings of 49 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 64 cents by 23.1%.

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