Maxeon Solar Technologies Q1 revenue guidance falls short of analyst estimates

Investing.com -- Maxeon Solar Technologies reported Monday revenue guidance for the current quarter that fell short of analyst estimates as slowing global distributed generation demand forced the company to step up its ramp down inventory of its Maxeon 6 solar panels faster than expected, pushing costs higher. 

Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:MAXN) was down 7% in afterhours following the report.

In its preliminary fourth-quarter report, the company said it expects Q1 revenue of $186M, well below analyst estimates of $242.3M on shipments of 508MW. 

The downbeat guidance comes as slowing global distributed generation demand continues to challenge performance. The company launched a restructuring plan last year that included efforts to phase out its Maxeon 6 interdigitated back contact.

As part of the restructuring plan, the company said it "made the decision to ramp down all of our Maxeon 6 capacity faster than we had originally expected, resulting in higher than initially planned restructuring costs in the fourth quarter."      

For the quarter ended Dec. 21, the company expects to report revenue of $229 million, down from $228 million, and below analyst estimates for $236M. That was, however, within the guidance range of $220M to $260M, the company previously provided on Nov. 15.

The company also said its shipments in Q4 will be 653MW, above a prior guidance of range of  between 610MW and 650MW.