Enphase (ENPH) Initiates IQ Microinverter Shipments From Texas
Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH recently commenced the shipment of IQ Microinverters produced by the contract manufacturer Salcomp from Texas, thus signifying the introduction of its third contract manufacturer in the United States. Such expanded manufacturing capacity should significantly benefit the company in meeting the increased global demand for microinverters.
Enphase’s Plans to Aid US Manufacturing Capacity
The recent Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) by the White House has a provision for 11 cents per AC watt production-based tax credit for the domestic manufacturing of microinverters. To reap the benefits of this provision, Enphase Energy is actively looking at expanding its manufacturing capacity in the United States.
The company estimates net IRA benefits between $14.5 and $16.5 million on estimated shipments of 600,000 units of U.S.-manufactured microinverters.
Considering the vast benefits Enphase can avail of from the enacted IRA, it plans to open six manufacturing lines by the end of 2023, adding a quarterly capacity of 4.5 million microinverters. This will bring its total quarterly capacity to more than 10 million microinverters by the end of 2024.
Prior to the recent addition, the company shipped 50,000 microinverters to customers in the second quarter from two of its contract manufacturers — Flex in South Carolina and Foxconn in Wisconsin.
Such a boost to manufacturing capacity may provide a wider scope to Enphase to meet the strong demand in the days ahead.
Peer Moves
Apart from Enphase Energy, solar companies that are extensively looking to expand their manufacturing capacity in the United States to enjoy the perks of IRA and efficiently meet the growing demand for solar products are as follows:
SolarEdge SEDG: The company is currently planning to establish manufacturing capabilities in the United States by using contract manufacturers and establishing its manufacturing facility. SEDG expects to ramp up the shipments of inverters from a contract manufacturer's U.S. manufacturing site toward the end of 2023.
SolarEdge boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 24.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SolarEdge’s 2023 sales suggests a growth rate of 24.1% from the prior-year reported figure.
Canadian Solar CSIQ: In June 2023, the company announced that it is building its first manufacturing facility in the United States for producing solar photovoltaic modules. Canadian Solar has picked up Mesquite, TX, as the location for its first-ever manufacturing base in the nation.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Canadian Solar’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 76.2% from the prior-year reported figure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSIQ’s 2023 sales calls for an improvement of 15.9% from the prior-year reported figure.
First Solar FSLR: It intends to invest up to $1.1 billion in building an additional new fully vertically integrated manufacturing facility of 3.5 GW capacity in the United States, its fifth in the country. This new facility is anticipated to be completed and begin production in the first half of 2026. The new investment puts First Solar on track to grow its manufacturing footprint to approximately 14 GW in the United States.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for First Solar’s 2023 sales implies a growth rate of 34.2% from the prior-year reported figure. Shares of FSLR have soared 42.3% in the past year.
Price Movement
In the past month, shares of Enphase Energy have decreased 15% compared with the industry’s decline of 19.4%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Zacks Rank
Enphase Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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