Canadian Solar Lowers Outlook, Warns Of Challenging Second Half

Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ shares fell Thursday after the company reported second-quarter 2025 revenue of $1.69 billion, up 4% year over year but below the $1.95 billion consensus estimate.

The company reported a net loss of 8 cents per share, compared with earnings of 2 cents a year earlier. The company posted an adjusted loss of 53 cents per share, which missed analyst expectations of a $1.61 profit.

Total module shipments reached 7.9 GW, up 14% sequentially and down 4% year over year, with the U.S., China, Pakistan, Spain, and Australia as top markets.

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Gross margin widened to 29.8% from 17.2% a year earlier, exceeding guidance of 23% to 25%, aided by storage contributions, a U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty true-up adjustment, and a U.S. project sale. Gross profit rose to $505 million from $282 million a year ago.

Operating expenses increased to $377.59 million, primarily due to asset impairments. Operating cash inflow was $189 million, compared with an outflow of $429 million a year earlier.

The company ended the quarter with $2.3 billion in total cash and $6.3 billion in debt, including $1.8 billion in non-recourse borrowings.

By segment, CSI Solar delivered $1.59 billion in revenue, led by $1.02 billion from modules and $432 million from storage. Recurrent Energy contributed $104 million, with $48 million from project sales and $37 million from electricity and storage operations.

CSI Solar reported a $3 billion e-STORAGE contracted backlog, while Recurrent Energy’s development pipeline stood at 27.3 GWp of solar and 80.2 GWh of storage.

Outlook

For the third quarter, Canadian Solar expects revenue of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion, below the $1.63 billion estimate, and gross margin of 14% to 16%.

For the full year, it lowered sales guidance to $5.6 billion to $6.3 billion from $6.1 billion to $7.1 billion, short of the $6.33 billion consensus.

Module shipments are forecast at 25 GW to 27 GW, with storage at 7 GWh to 9 GWh.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO, said, “We expect third quarter margins to moderate as difficult market conditions persist, and storage profitability reflects more recent orders at normalized levels. We narrowed our full-year module volume guidance and maintained our storage volume guidance, supported by increased visibility into the second half. Full-year revenue expectations have been adjusted to reflect certain project sales shifting into 2026 and a more measured view on module pricing. The second half will remain challenging, with rising solar supply chain prices and ongoing trade uncertainties. We will continue to navigate these conditions with discipline, maintaining a prudent balance between growth and profitability.”

Price Action: CSIQ shares were trading lower by 13.02% to $11.09 premarket at last check Thursday.

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