JA Solar Holdings Goes Negative

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

JA Solar Holdings (NAS: JASO) reported earnings on June 5. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), JA Solar Holdings beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank significantly and GAAP earnings per share dropped to a loss.


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
JA Solar Holdings logged revenue of $254.4 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $234.5 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 54% lower than the prior-year quarter's $556.4 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at -$0.20. The 10 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged -$0.16 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.20 for Q1 against $0.42 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 2.1%, 1,520 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -9.9%, 2,490 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -15.7%, 2,860 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $278.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.14.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.22 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$0.52.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,622 members out of 1,730 rating the stock outperform, and 108 members rating it underperform. Among 237 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 203 give JA Solar Holdings a green thumbs-up, and 34 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on JA Solar Holdings is underperform, with an average price target of $1.79.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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