What happened
Shares of Sunrun (RUN -6.78%) jumped more than 18% on Thursday after the residential solar leader delivered strong third-quarter growth metrics.
So what
Sunrun added 35,760 customers during the quarter. The renewable power provider ended September with a total of 759,937 customers. That's up 21% from the prior-year period.
"Sunrun's energy subscription model, which can deliver clean energy technology and innovation that is more affordable and reliable for customers, is particularly well suited for this economic environment," CEO Mary Powell said in a press release.
In all, Sunrun installed 255.8 megawatts of solar energy capacity in the third quarter. That represented year-over-year growth of 17%.
Many of Sunrun's customers pay for their solar systems over time via monthly lease payments or power purchase agreements. The company refers to these customers as subscribers.
It added 25,468 subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total subscriber base to 639,748 at the end of September. Annual recurring revenue from subscribers, in turn, rose 23% to $969 million.
Better still, price increases helped to boost the net value of each subscriber by 68% sequentially and 74% year over year.
"The actions we took throughout the year to respond to higher interest rates and material costs have resulted in strong improvements in our net subscriber value, which exceeded our prior guidance," chief financial officer Danny Abajian said.
All told, Sunrun's earnings per share rose more than eightfold to $0.96.
Now what
Sunrun expects its net subscriber value to increase further in the fourth quarter. Management also guided for full-year solar energy capacity installed growth of roughly 25% in 2022.
Looking further ahead, Sunrun is likely to be a major beneficiary of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which extended and increased already sizable tax credits for solar power solutions.
