Vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturer Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) announced today that shipments of PV modules would be significantly higher in the fourth quarter than its previous guidance suggested.
Based on preliminary data, Yingli says module shipments will increase by approximately 40% sequentially, well above its previous guidance of percentage increases in the low teens. Full-year 2012 PV module shipments are expected to reach approximately 2.3 gigawatts, also higher than the high end of its full-year shipment guidance of 2.1 GW to 2.2 GW.
That is still well below the original guidance it gave last May when it forecast between 2.4 GW and 2.5 GW, or a 50% increase over 2011's results, but having scaled back its estimates in August, it maintained them at those levels while many of its peers went on to cut their 2012 guidance as the year progressed. Yingli Green Energy has a larger market share in China than does its domestic peers.
