Canadian Solar (CSIQ) missed EPS estimates this morning sending the stock reeling nearly 20% and putting pressure on many solar stocks across the board.  The company reported revenues of $453 million which beat analyst estimates for $417 million, but missed on the EPS side posting .58/share vs the expectation for .65/share.  It still represented big quarter over quarter growth and healthy sequential growth, but clearly traders were looking for more.

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Here are some highlights of comments made by CEO Shawn Qu:

– we gained market share and more than doubled our revenues

– higher margins than last year due to lower processing costs

– continued geographic diversification with progress in N America and Japan (although 80% of revenue still comes from Europe)

– began shipping New Edge higher efficiency modules late in year

20110 Guidance

For this quarter the company expects shipments about in line with last quarter despite unfavorable weather conditions in Europe and N America.  They expect gross margin to come under a bit of pressure due to lower ASP, higher input costs and low production volume due to Chinese New Year.

For the full year, the company reiterates its shipment guidance of 1200 – 1300MW.