I meant to  get this out yesterday, but battling a nasty cold so sleep was a priority.  Anyhoo Canadian Solar (CSIQ) reported better than expected results, beating on both the EPS and revenue side.  The company reported an EPS of .47/share vs the analyst estimate of .43 on revenues of $377 million vs the analyst estimate of $347 million.  The EPS number is 32% lower than the year ago quarter, but that was a record quarter.  Sequentially, it represents the 3rd straight quarter of improvement.  Revenues increased 77% over the year ago quarter. Gross margins came in higher than expected at 17.3% vs the company estimate of 14.5 – 15.5%.

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Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO, remarked: “This was a strong quarter for us, marked with shipment volumes at the high end of expectations and a better-than-expected gross margin. The increase in 3Q10 revenues compared to 2Q10 was driven by strong demand in all our key markets, including Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, strong selling prices, revenues from solar systems sales and higher prices from our premium product sales. Our results also benefitted from operational improvements. Our internal cell production contributed 130 MW, above our expected 127 MW, along with the contribution of 37 MW of internally produced wafers, which was in line with our expectations. Average non-silicon processing costs declined modestly in September. Silicon raw materials prices appear to have peaked in September and October and are now beginning to stabilize, while the prices of most other raw materials have been and remain stable.”

Looking ahead, the company is forecasting Q4 shipments at 220 – 230MW and gross margins at 17 – 18%.  For 2011, they see shipments in the range of 1.2 – 1.3GW and gross margins at 18 – 19%.

Shares of CSIQ saw an initial pop yesterday before reversing, but are moving up again this morning about 7%.