Canadian Solar Surges 12% Following Top And Bottom Q1 Beat

Shares of

surged higher by more than 12 percent Wednesday morning after the company reported its

Canadian Solar said that it earned $0.39 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $721 million. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.14 per share on revenue of $664 million. By region, sales to the Americas represented 43.1 percent of net revenue, sales to Asia represented 44.4 percent and sales to Europe and others represented 12.5 percent, compared to 51.9 percent, 41.1 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively in the prior quarter and 48.7 percent, 32.9 percent, 18.4 percent respectively, in the same quarter a year ago. Total solar module shipments in the quarter totaled 1,198 MW, of which 1,172 MW were recognized as revenue, marking an improvement from the 1,398 MW recognized as revenue in the same quarter a year ago. Canadian Solar noted that it ended the quarter with a fleet of solar power plants in operation totaling 437.5MWp with an estimated resale value of approximately $950 million and gross margin contribution in excess of 20.0 percent. Finally, Canadian Solar raised its full fiscal year 2016 guidance to a range of $3.0 billion to $3.2 billion from a prior range of $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion due to the company's expectations of selling some of its solar project holdings in the bottom half of the year. Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, remarked: "Our results for the first quarter came in above guidance, driven by robust demand in our solar module business. The results do not include the benefit of any solar project sales in the quarter, however, in the future we will continue our balanced approach of project retention and project sales to maximize both flexibility and valuation, as well as to balance our cash flow. We now have approximately 438 MWp of solar power plants in operation, with a resale value estimated to be approximately $950 million. The company does plan to sell some of these assets in the second half of this year, at the same time as we bring additional solar power plants into operation. Our steady, longer-term approach has positioned Canadian Solar for sustained success and has set Canadian Solar apart from competitors. We remain confident in our business model, outlook and in our ability to manage our profitable growth."