Leading PV microinverter supplier Enphase Energy reported only marginal improvements in sales and shipments in the third quarter, compared to a strong rebound seen in the previous quarter.

Enphase Energy reported total revenue for the third quarter of 2017 of US$77.0 million, an increase of only 3%, compared to the previous quarter when revenue reached US$74.7 million, which was up 36% from the first quarter of 2017.

Enphase sold approximately 231MW (DC) or 790,000 microinverters in the third quarter, compared to approximately 224MW (DC) or 775,000 microinverters in the previous quarter. 

The big improvement was the company reporting a GAAP gross margin of 21.4%, compared to 18.1% in the second quarter and 12.9% in the first quarter of 2017, which is inline with efforts to improve its operational execution after several rounds of major restructuring and job losses. 

Gross margin was helped by GAAP operating expenses declining to US$22.4 million, a 33% reduction compared to the third quarter of 2016. 

Enphase reported a GAAP operating loss of US$5.9 million and a net loss of only US$964,000, compared to a loss of US$12.1 million in the second quarter and a loss of US23.3 million in the first quarter of 2017. 

“The fiscal discipline across all areas of our business in the third quarter resulted in a 41 percent year-over-year decrease in non-GAAP operating expenses and a sequential 340 basis point improvement in non-GAAP gross margin,” said Bert Garcia, CFO of Enphase Energy. “We were close to breakeven on a non-GAAP operating income basis in the third quarter, demonstrating our commitment to achieving non-GAAP operating profitability in the fourth quarter of 2017.”

Guidance

Enphase guided fourth quarter revenue to be within a range of US$72 million to US$80 million, indicating a cap on growth heading into 2018. However, management claimed that its new product introductions would be at the heart of renewed growth in 2018.

“We completed the transition to our sixth-generation IQ Microinverter System for our North American customers during the third quarter, and we expect to introduce our seventh-generation IQ product worldwide in the first quarter of 2018,” said Badri Kothandaraman, president and CEO of Enphase Energy. “These transitions, along with our continued focus on operational excellence, will help drive further gross margin improvement.”