JinkoSolar (JKS 4.55%) stock is making big gains in Monday's trading. The China-based company's share price was up 22.5% as of noon ET, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
JinkoSolar published its third-quarter results before the market opened this morning, delivering earnings that were in line with expectations and sales performance that was significantly better than the market had anticipated. The company posted earnings per share of $2.53 on sales of $4.36 billion, and revenue in the period beat the average analyst estimate by roughly $170 million. In addition to the Q3 beat, the company also announced promising news about one of its solar-cell technologies.
Investors are warming up to JinkoSolar stock
JinkoSolar's revenue soared 63% year over year in Q3 thanks to increasing global demand for solar modules. The company's gross profit roughly doubled to reach $840.6 million in the period, with its margin expanding from 15.7% to 19.3%. While many investors and analysts have expressed concern that economic uncertainty would result in demand headwinds for renewable energy technology companies, JinkoSolar is demonstrating some impressive resilience.
The company paired the strong Q3 report with an announcement that it had achieved a major technological breakthrough for its 182 mm high-efficiency N-type monocrystalline silicon solar cell. JinkoSolar's tech reached a solar conversion efficiency of 26.89% for the specifications. The performance represented a new record for the specifications and was confirmed by China's National PV Industry Measurement and Testing Center.
What comes next for JinkoSolar?
Even with today's big gains, JinkoSolar stock is still down roughly 23.5% year to date.
JKS PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts
With the solar energy company trading at just 3.3 times this year's expected earnings and 10% of expected sales, JinkoSolar still looks quite cheap by some metrics. However, investors should keep in mind that demand for its technologies could still prove to be heavily cyclical or irregular in the face of development cycles and macroeconomic conditions.
