Enphase Q1/2023 Net Income Goes Down

• Enphase Energy's total global quarterly manufacturing capacity has increased to around 6 million microinverters
• This is due to its contract manufacturer Flex operated Romania fab starting to ship in Q1/2023
• In Q2/2023, it plans to add capacity in the US to take its quarterly capacity to over 10 million by 2023-end

Spurred by growing demand for solar and incentives related to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), US based solar microinverter supplier Enphase Energy's says it is expanding manufacturing capacity in the US in Q2/2023. This will take its total global quarterly capacity to more than 10.0 million microinverters as it exits 2023.

Meanwhile, it has started shipping microinverters from its contract manufacturer Flex in Timisoara, Romania in Q1/2023. With this, its quarterly manufacturing capacity has increased globally to around 6 million microinverters. This has enabled the company to 'improve delivery times to our customers in Europe, while addressing the region's rapid growth and demand for residential solar'.

In Q1/2023 however, seasonality and macroeconomic conditions were blamed by the management that pulled down its quarterly US revenues by around 9% out of total $726 million. In comparison, European revenues increased by approximately 25% on quarterly basis.

GAAP gross margin for the reporting quarter was 45%, up from 42.9% in the previous quarter and 40.1% in the previous year. Net income of $146.87 million was up over 183% on annual basis, but a drop of over 4% from Q4/2022 (see Enphase Exited 2022 With Over 68% Jump In Annual Revenues).

Operating income went up to $167.66 million, compared to $156.96 million in Q4/2022 and $61.82 million in Q1/2022.

While IQ batteries shipments were a total of 102.4 MWh, the company shipped close to 1,957.2 MW DC or 4,830,589 microinverters, up from 1,029 MW DC in the previous year, with IQ8 series comprising around 65% of all shipments (see Enphase Energy's Q1/2022 Financial Results).

It recently started shipping IQ8 microinverters with peak output AC power of 384W to France, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal to support new high powered solar panels, and plans to expand to more countries soon.

Guidance

For Q2/2023, Enphase guides for revenues within $700 million to $750 million, including shipments of 80 MWh to 100 MWh of IQ Batteries. GAAP gross margin will be between 41% to 44% and operating expenses within $155 million to $159 million. Financial analyst Jeffrey Osborne of TD Cowen says this guidance assumes continued strength in Europe, supported by the introduction of IQ microinverters and IQ batteries into additional countries.

Management also sees Enphase's IQ8 mix increasing to 80% in Q2/2023 and 90% in Q3/2023, he added.