Update: Now it’s being dumped after hours.. down about 10%.

Sunpower (SPWRA) is out with earnings after the bell and missed badly reporting non GAAP EPS of just .05 share vs consensus estimates of .39.  Revenues came in about 20% lower than the year ago quarter at $214 million which is considerably lower than estimates of $269.

The CEO commented that the quarter was the most challenging in its history, but despite the headwinds was able to deliver strong gross margins in the Components business and positive non GAAP income. 

“The first quarter of 2009 was the most challenging quarter we’ve seen since SunPower went public in 2005,” said Tom Werner, SunPower’s CEO. “Our quarterly performance was impacted by seasonality, the continuing effects of the credit crisis and difficult economic conditions. Despite these headwinds we were able to deliver strong gross margins in our Components business and positive non-GAAP net income. We have responded to current market conditions by moving to a demand-driven manufacturing model and reducing our planned operating expenses to align with our adjusted revenue outlook. Our recent announcements with FPL Group, Exelon and Xcel are representative of the range of opportunities in our utility and power plant business pipeline. Looking forward, we see positive trends emerging in a number of market segments, including the rooftop, distributed power plant and utility markets that give us confidence that we are well positioned for growth in the second half of 2009, 2010 and beyond.

Looking ahead the company sees FY09 revenues of $1.3 – 1.7B vs the consensus of $1.56 billion.  EPS doesn’t look as good with estimates of $1.25 – $1.75 vs estimates of $1.90.  (on a GAAP basis)

Surprisingly, shares are holding up very well AH and actually trading up just a bit.  Wow, is this a wash out quarter for SunPower?