Canadian Solar, a global leader in solar power and energy storage solutions, announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2024 and provided guidance for the fourth quarter of 2024.
Q3 2024 Results
Net revenue for Q3 2024 was $1.5 billion, down 8 percent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 18 percent year-over-year (YoY).
The decline was primarily due to lower average selling prices (ASPs) for solar modules, reduced project sales, and weaker third-party battery energy storage sales, partially offset by an increase in module shipment volumes.
Gross profit totaled $247 million, representing a gross margin of 16.4 percent, compared to 17.2 percent in Q2 2024 and 16.7 percent in Q3 2023. The margin contraction was driven by lower module ASPs and reduced contribution from third-party battery energy storage sales.
Operating expenses increased to $247 million, up from $234 million in Q2 2024 and $225 million in Q3 2023, largely due to higher shipping and handling costs.
Total module shipments reached 8.4 GW, marking a 2 percent QoQ and 1 percent YoY growth. Of these, 31 MW were allocated to the company’s utility-scale projects.
Recurrent Energy’s solar project development pipeline stood at 26.4 GWp, with 1.7 GWp under construction, 4.8 GWp in backlog, and 19.9 GWp in advanced and early-stage stages.
The total battery energy storage project pipeline reached 66.1 GWh, including 9.8 GWh under construction and backlog, and 56.3 GWh in advanced stages.
CSI Solar shipped solar modules and systems to over 70 countries, with the top markets being the U.S., China, Pakistan, Germany, and Brazil.
Q4 2024 Outlook
For the fourth quarter of 2024, Canadian Solar projects:
Revenue: Expected in the range of $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion.
Gross Margin: Anticipated between 16 percent and 18 percent.
Module Shipments: Estimated between 8.0 GW and 8.5 GW, including 500 MW for the company’s own projects.
Battery Energy Storage Shipments: Expected between 2.0 GWh and 2.4 GWh, including 1.2 GWh for internal projects.
Full-Year 2025 Guidance
The company expects total module shipments of 30 GW to 35 GW and battery energy storage shipments of 11 GWh to 13 GWh for 2025, with approximately 1 GW and 1 GWh, respectively, earmarked for its own projects.