What happened
Shares of solar energy supplier SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG 1.92%) jumped 43.3% in April, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, recovering most of what the company lost when shares lost 34% of their value. As good as April was, May has been a bit more volatile.
So what
This week SolarEdge announced first-quarter 2020 earnings, and it was the first concrete news on which investors had to evaluate the company. Revenue of $431.2 million was up 59% versus a year ago and non-GAAP net income, which pulls out one-time items, was up 54% to $50.7 million, or $0.95 per share. That may sound impressive, but results and guidance of $305 million to $335 million in revenue for the second quarter fell short of expectations, and the stock dropped after results were released.
Image source: Getty Images.
What we're seeing in real time is a slowdown in rooftop solar investment as sales channels were disrupted and workers in some states were put on the sidelines. But that doesn't fundamentally change the industry's position long term, which is why shares are gaining back most of what they lost.
Now what
The next few quarters will likely be volatile from a results perspective, but SolarEdge is one of the strongest companies in the solar industry financially and is serving a growing rooftop market worldwide. That's what I think investors should focus on rather than the short-term results. Shares of SolarEdge and renewable energy stocks more broadly may be volatile over the next few quarters, but long term this is one of the few growth industries left in energy.
