Evergreen Solar (ESLR) is a company that has always needed to find a way to cut costs and time is running out as I’ve mentioned so many times before on this blog. The success of this company really hinges on the success of their China outsourcing operation which is proceeding as planned. For now, the company is still nowhere near profitability. While revenues continue to climb higher and improve over the year ago quarter, earnings haven’t seen much improvement. The company beat analyst estimates on the revenue side reporting $84.5 million vs the analyst estimate of $80 million, but missed on the EPS side posting a non GAAP EPS of -.13/share vs the analyst estimate of a .11/share loss.
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Their are some positive developments taking place however and traders are probably just looking for an an excuse to bid this stock higher. Total manufacturing costs decreased 5% during quarter and the China manufacturing operations are on track to begin producing.
CEO Richard Feldt commented: “Operationally, our team is executing strongly to plan in both Devens and Wuhan. In Devens, we are now running at capacity and are focusing our attention to further cost reduction activities, as well as yield improvements. In Wuhan, we now have 25 quad furnaces in operation and a total of 53 installed. Initial yields are solid and reflect the strong training programs our staff in China completed with their United States colleagues. Our financial position is stronger. During the quarter, we completed a convertible note financing which enabled us to add $75 million of new capital to the company while also reducing our 4% convertible debt by $124.5 million. Together with our improved financial position, the replication of our world class manufacturing performance in the newly opened Wuhan facility will be essential to supporting the further expansion we have outlined for our operations in China in the year ahead.”
Shares of ESLR are trading up about 7% in after hours trading, but are still well below a buck at .72/share.