Canadian Solar Shipped 6 GW Solar Modules In Q3/2022

• Canadian Solar's Q3/2022 revenues grew 57% annually to $1.93 billion, but declined 16% sequentially with lower revenues from project sales and small decline in module ASP
• It shipped 6.0 GW, achieving lower end of the guidance, with top 5 markets being China, the US, Brazil, Spain and Germany
• The company expects to increase shipments by around 45% to between 30 GW to 35 GW in 2023, having grown its solar project development pipeline to 25 GW and energy storage pipeline to 40 GWh by September 2022

Vertically integrated solar PV manufacturer Canadian Solar Inc. expects to report 56% annual growth with 30 GW to 35 GW solar module shipments in 2023 at the mid-point of the range, having achieved 123% annual increase in Q3/2022 net income even as it missed revenue guidance.

Without sharing too many details in the prepared remarks, Canadian Solar's Chairman and CEO Dr. Shawn Qu said, "We are also actively evaluating options in the U.S. market given the recent passing of the Inflation Reduction Act and its potential positive impact as another growth catalyst." Today CSI owns a US project developer, Recurrent Energy, which functions as its US project development arm, but doesn't have any manufacturing in the country.

CSI's Q3/2022 revenues of $1.93 billion though increased 57% YoY, dropped 16% QoQ and missed guidance, due to lower revenue from project sales and battery storage solutions and a small decline in module ASP. It was partially offset by higher module shipment volumes.

Canadian Solar shipped 6.0 GW modules in Q3/2022, an annual improvement of 62% with 196 MW shipped for its own projects, achieving the lower end of its guided range (6.0 GW to 6.2 GW). The top 5 markets for its modules during this period were China, US, Brazil, Spain and Germany.

Gross profit was reported as $363 million, up 59% YoY and down 2% QoQ. Net income went up 123% annually to $78 million. Management also shared an update regarding its subsidiary CSI Solar's carve-out China IPO saying it is back on track and is awaiting registration with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (see JinkoSolar & Canadian Solar STAR Listing Plans Update).

Guidance

For Q4/2022, it expects module shipments as ranging between 6.0 GW to 6.3 GW, including 290 MW to its own projects. Total revenues are likely to fall within $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion, and gross margin of 16% to 18%.

For 2022, it has guided for total battery storage shipments in the range of 1.8 GWh to 1.9 GWh, including some 300 MWh for its own projects. Global energy project sales are forecast between 2.2 GW to 2.3 GW, down from the earlier guidance of 2.1 GW to 2.6 GW. It expects annual module shipment guidance for the entire year to range between 20.7 GW to 21.0 GW, a little higher than its previous guidance of 20 GW to 22 GW (see Canadian Solar Reports Strong Q2/2022).

Having grown its solar project development pipeline to 25 GW and energy storage pipeline to 40 GWh by September 2022, it has not provided any guidance for battery shipments or project sales in 2023. However, Canadian Solar now aims to ship between 30 GW to 35 GW solar modules in 2023, up about 45% from the estimated 2022 guidance