What happened
Despite a rather wide earnings miss for its latest quarter, Sunnova Energy International (NOVA 0.53%) was a popular stock this week. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the renewable energy solutions provider's stock was trading almost 19% higher week to date as of early Friday morning. Recent weather events might be playing a role in this.
So what
For its third quarter, reported after market hours on Wednesday, Sunnova managed to more than double its revenue on a year-over-year basis to nearly $149.4 million. This was buttressed by the addition of 21,800 new customers during the quarter, bringing the total to 246,600.
Unfortunately, the company's bottom-line loss also doubled and then some, coming in at over $62 million ($0.54 per share) from the third-quarter 2021 shortfall of $27.5 million.
Analysts weren't expecting anywhere near that much red ink. On average, they were projecting a net loss of only $0.27 per share. Yet they notably underestimated revenue, with a collective forecast of just under $130.6 million.
In the earnings release, Sunnova took pains to point out that it has strengthened its balance sheet with a recent capital raise. It also played up its record low customer default and delinquency rates.
As for the looming future, the company quoted CEO William Berger as saying that "Sunnova is optimally positioned to benefit from this strong consumer demand for its energy service, catalyzed by a combination of our focus on service, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the global energy crisis, as homeowners look to avoid rising utility bills that they must pay."
Now what
Sunnova is also benefiting from weather events that have caused havoc and destruction lately, specifically Hurricane Fiona. The company said that the importance of battery storage backing up power systems had been highlighted by the natural disaster; investors obviously took this to heart despite the company's considerable earnings miss.
