Strong Results For US Solar Tracker Maker Nextracker

• Nextracker's FY 2023 revenues increased 30% YoY to $1.9 billion led by the US market
• It was also the company's 5^th consecutive profitable year, according to the management, as its adjusted EBITDA improved from $92 million to $209 million
• Backlog rose 90% to settle at $2.6 billion thanks to key wins reported from North America, Latin America, Australia, Europe and India

Nextracker, a leading US based solar tracker supplier, ended FY 2023 (period ending March 31, 2023) with annual revenues growing over 30% to $1.9 billion and the company reporting its 5^th consecutive profitable year while reaching a record backlog of $2.6 billion that jumped up 90% YoY.

Releasing its financial results for the 1^st time since going public in February 2023, Nextracker counts its adjusted net income in FY2023 to have gone up over 120% to $209 million, while adjusted net income grew to $153.1 million. It raised $638 million in the IPO (see Nextracker Raises $638 Million With IPO).

Revenues were mainly led by the US market that accounted for approximately 65% of the total, followed by rest of the world. This includes 18% growth in Q4/2023 (January 2023 to March 2023) revenues with $518.4 million thanks to Europe and Latin America, and 227% increase in adjusted EBITDA of $73 million with pricing and cost improvements.

Its backlog covers executed contracts or purchase orders with deposit, build of materials and shipping dates, along with executed volume commitment agreements with customer deposits for multiple projects. At the end of FY 2022, it stood at $1.34 billion.

Management attributes this growth in firm backlog orders to key wins in North America, Latin America, Australia, Europe and India (see India PV News Snippets).

In a call with analysts, Nextracker announced having delivered more than 17 GW of solar trackers during FY2023.

The company says it can take orders for 70% to 80% of domestic content in calendar year (CY) 2023 and up to 90% in CY 2024.

Guidance

For FY 2024 (period ending March 31, 2024), Nextracker targets to report between $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion, reflecting an annual increase of 15% to 20%, and GAAP net income of $175 million to $205 million. Adjusted EBITDA should range within $265 million to $205 million.

Management says the guidance excludes the possible benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tracker manufacturing tax credits.

Nextracker's financial results follow Q1/2023 results of compatriot tracker suppliers Array Technologies and FTC Solar (see US Solar Tracker Maker Reports Higher Shipments and FTC Solar Added $235 Million To Project Backlog).

Philip Shen of Roth MKM is impressed with Nextracker's backlog when he compares it with those shared by Array and FTC. He explained, "Our sense is that ARRY's backlog has a substantial amount of contracts & deposits, while FTCI's backlog likely is skewed more toward awards. Each company counts something in backlog when there is a specific project and start date. We believe NXT, on the other hand, has specific projects, start dates, AND deposits on every order in its backlog — even the majority of its Volume Commitment Agreements (VCAs)."

TaiyangNews' covered latest product developments of leading solar tracker providers under our December 2022 Market Survey on Solar Trackers 2022. It can be downloaded for free here.