What happened
Thursday was an extremely sunny day for holders of Sunnova Energy International (NOVA 0.26%). Shares of the residential solar energy specialist leaped almost 28%, on the back of a well-received second-quarter earnings report. A big development on the U.S. political scene didn't hurt, either.
So what
Sunnova released its quarterly results Thursday morning before market open. The company doubled its revenue and then some compared to the same quarter last year; the line item tallied over $147 million for the period, against less than $67 million in the second quarter of 2021. This was helped to no small degree by the addition of 17,300 customers, for a new count of roughly 225,000.
The bottom line showed a net loss of slightly under $10 million ($0.32 per share). That isn't inspiring in and of itself, but it's miles better than the over $66 million the company lost in the year-ago quarter.
It's a good time to be a residential solar company; CEO William Berger was quoted as saying that, "High inflation and overall economic distress is further reinforcing the value of the cost savings and predictable nature of the essential energy services Sunnova provides."
While that's true, Sunnova's share-price pop might be more due to external factors. Thursday morning, influential swing Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin reversed his previous stance on a sprawling climate, energy, and tax-reform package currently making its way through Congress.
Manchin now supports the measure, greatly increasing its chances for passage in the evenly divided Senate and (hopefully for shareholders in solar companies) brightening the prospects for the renewable energy sector.
Now what
Sunnova reaffirmed its 2022 guidance, although it's worth noting that it did so before the Manchin news broke widely. The company expects to add 85,000 to 89,000 new customers, and post an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $117 million to $137 million. It did not provide either revenue or profitability forecasts.
