SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG) reported earnings of 64 cents a share after the New York markets closed yesterday. That was 7 cents a share above Wall Street projections. The company reported first quarter revenue of $271.9 million, up 29.5% year over year, and ahead of Wall Street projections of $266.11 million in revenue.
But it was the company’s guidance for the second quarter that popped the shares. SolarEdge told analysts to expect second quarter revenue of $310 million to $320 million against Wall Street projections for $281.36 million. Gross margin in the quarter, the company said would be in a range of 32% to 34%. In the first quarter gross margins were 32.8%.The shares climbed 22.7% today, May 7, on the news to $53.84.
The earnings report certainly qualifies as good news but the earnings and revenue beats are relatively minor, certainly, in comparison to a 23% pop in the stock.So why the big move?SolarEdge has been struggling with a shortage of transistors for the inverter systems that it makes for solar panels, electric cars, and other fast growing markets. That has acted to damp revenue growth–a pretty damaging phenomenon for a growth stock owned by momentum investors. But with new capacity coming on line from transistor suppliers such as recent Jubak Pick Infineon Technologies (IFNNY) the expectation is that SolarEdge would see a big pickup in growth rates. The first quarter results and the guidance for the second quarter served as confirmation for that thesis and brought some growth stock and momentum investors back into the stock.
The shares are up just 1.39% since I added them to my Jubak Picks Portfolio on April 16, 2018, just before the revenue problems started to emerge. I’m keeping them in the portfolio now that the revenue growth rate looks to be picking up again. My target price for the shares remains at $67 a share.
