Sunpower with strong sales growth in second quarter

U.S. solar company Sunpower Corporation has reported sales of $417.8 million for the second quarter of this year, 19.3 percent more than in the first quarter ($350.3 million) and 60.2 percent more than in the same quarter of the previous year ($260.8 million). Although Sunpower posted a net loss of $42.5 million, the adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to $15.2 million. This compares to $11.2 million in the first quarter and $22.4 million year-on-year.
Sunpower completed the sale of its Commercial & Industrial Solutions division to its majority shareholder, French energy group Total Energies, in June. At the same time, Total agreed with fund company Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) to form a joint venture that will hold Total’s 51 percent stake in Sunpower, with GIP taking a 50 percent stake in this Joint venture. Sunpower itself concentrates on business with residential and medium-sized PV systems; it procures the solar modules required for this from its sister company Maxeon.
As a special event of the past quarter, Sunpower highlights in its report, among other things, that it has largely concluded negotiations with U.S. manufacturer of cadmium telluride thin-film modules First Solar on a joint product announced in March. The two companies, which already operated the joint venture 8point3 Energy Partners until 2018, aim to develop »the world's most advanced residential solar panels« – according to the March announcements, tandem cells made from Sunpower’s crystalline back-contact cells and First Solar's thin-film technology. Sunpower announced that the partners are »expected to sign a deal in the next quarter and promptly move forward to operationalize production.«
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