Analysts sing Enphase praises after strong Q4 beat, upside guidance
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Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH)
+23.6% pre-market after the solar company easily topped Wall Street estimates for Q4 earnings and revenues, which rose 56% Y/Y to a record $412.7M, and issued upbeat Q1 revenue guidance.
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ETF: TAN
Enphase said it plans to add its first manufacturing capacity in Europe by year-end, capable of producing as many as 750K microinverters per quarter; the new capacity would be in addition to 5M microinverters the company now gets each quarter from facilities in China, Mexico and India.
Analysts are weighing in with widespread praise, including an upgrade to Buy from Hold with a $241 price target at Craig-Hallum, which says Enphase "emphatically demonstrated its market leadership and ongoing strong execution."
"While shares are still not cheap, we believe a premium multiple is warranted given its market leadership and multi-faceted growth outlook going forward," Craig-Hallum's Eric Stine writes.
Guggenheim Securities maintains its Buy rating and hiked its stock price target to $234 from $213, citing the strong Q4 results.
Cowen's Jeffrey Osborne reiterates his Outperform rating and $226 PT, seeing Enphase "having a healthy set up for 2022."
Piper Sandler's Kashy Harrison likes the Q1 guidance, which she says implies operating income 18% above consensus due to higher revenues and lighter non-GAAP operating expenses.
KeyBanc's Sophie Karp says Enphase noted impending price increases later in the year and discussed multiple growth avenues in the U.S. and Europe, "highlighting its ability to maintain attractive growth trajectory."
Separately, Enphase said CFO Eric Branderiz will retire for personal reasons, to be succeeded by current Chief Accounting Officer Mandy Yang; Branderiz joined the company in 2018.
Enphase shares have lost 23% YTD and 27% over the past year.