SolarCity cuts panel installation forecast; shares tumble

SolarCity shares fell after the company reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss.  Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images photo.

May 9 (Reuters) – SolarCity Corp cut its forecast for solar panel installations this year and reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, sending its shares down 15 percent in extended trading on Monday.

The company, which is backed by Tesla Motors Inc founder Elon Musk, said it expects to install 1.0-1.1 GW in 2016, lower than the 1.25 GW it had forecast in February.

“While the regulatory clarity provided by California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York put many of last quarter’s headwinds behind us, we do not expect to be able to make up for the decline in MW booked in Q1 2016,” the company said in a statement.

Solar panel installments of 214 MW during the quarter, however, were higher than the company’s own expectations as it completed a project in Maryland ahead of time. The company had forecast installations of 180 MW in February.

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SolarCity said net loss attributable to shareholders increased to $25 million, or 25 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $21.5 million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

Total expenses jumped about 54 percent to $226.9 million.

On an adjusted basis, the company posted a loss of $2.56 per share, compared with a loss of $2.32 per share expected by analysts on average.

Revenue rose 81.6 percent to $122.6 million, above analysts’ average estimate of $109.9 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)