Canadian Solar, one of the leading renewable energy companies, said PV module shipments surged 42 percent to 3.63 GW in the first quarter of 2022.
Canadian Solar’s revenues rose 15 percent year-on-year and fell 18 percent quarter-over-quarter to $1.25 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
The yoy increase was mainly driven by higher solar shipment volumes and ASP, and significant growth in the Company”s battery storage solutions business, partially offset by lower project sales. The sequential decrease was mainly driven by lower project sales.
Canadian Solar’s gross profit was $181 million, down 7 percent yoy and 40 percent qoq. Gross margin in the first quarter of 2022 was 14.5 percent, within prior guidance, and compared to 19.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The sequential gross margin decline was mainly driven by higher raw material costs and the absence of U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty true up benefit in the current quarter relative to the prior quarter, which was partially offset by higher modules pricing and higher margin project sales.
Canadian Solar’s operating expenses were $165 million compared to $234 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and $151 million in the first quarter of 2021. The sequential decrease was mainly driven by lower shipping and handling expenses and an increase in other operating income.
As of March 31, 2022, the company’s total project pipeline was 23.8 GWp, including 1.1 GWp under construction, 4.2 GWp of backlog, and 18.5 GWp of earlier stage pipeline.
For the second quarter of 2022, Canadian Solar expects module shipments to be in the range of 4.9 GW to 5.1 GW.
Going forward, shipment guidance will be based on total shipments recognized as revenues by CSI Solar, which includes both third party and Global Energy shipments. Total revenues are expected to be in the range of $2.2 billion to $2.3 billion. Gross margin is expected to be between 14.5 percent and 15.5 percent, Canadian Solar said.
Canadian Solar said its guidance for full year 2022 remains unchanged with the following ranges: total module shipments of 20 GW to 22 GW, battery storage shipments of 1.8 GWh to 1.9 GWh, total project sales of 2.1 GW to 2.6 GW and total revenue of $7.0 billion to $7.5 billion.
Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, said: “We expect to drive higher revenue in the second quarter led by higher volumes in solar module and battery storage shipments, and project sales.”