What happened
Shares of solar manufacturer JinkoSolar Holdings (JKS -0.14%) jumped as much as 20.5% in trading Monday after the company reported third-quarter 2018 results. Shares bounced around early in trading and were up 15% as of 11:10 a.m. EST.
So what
Total module shipments increased 24.4% versus a year ago to 2,934 megawatts (MW), and revenue rose 4.3% to $974.8 million. Net income was $27.5 million, or $30.0 million on a non-GAAP basis, which pulls out one-time items. That translated to earnings of $0.76 per share, which is a great quarter for a company whose stock closed at $9.22 per share last week.
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Analysts were only expecting $934.6 million of revenue and a loss of $0.09 per share, so the big earnings beat is what's driving shares higher to start the week.
Now what
The profit was so shocking because investors are expecting a big plunge in solar demand in the second half of 2018. China cut solar incentives, and installations were expected to drop as a result. JinkoSolar's management said installations weren't as slow as expected, and international markets picked up the slack, which is why the company was able to perform so well last quarter. If these results continue, it may be time to get bullish on solar stocks again.
