Enphase Energy, Inc. announced today financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2016.
Enphase Energy reported total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2016 of $90.6 million, an increase of 2 percent compared to the third quarter of 2016 and an increase of 38 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2015. During the fourth quarter of 2016, Enphase sold 194MW (AC) or 815,000 microinverters. GAAP gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2016 was 17.9 percent and non-GAAP gross margin was 18.2 percent.
GAAP operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2016 were $26.3 million and non-GAAP operating expenses were $23.4 million, a decrease of 19 percent sequentially. GAAP operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $10.1 million and non-GAAP operating loss was $6.9 million. GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $13.2 million, or a net loss of $0.21 per share. On a non-GAAP basis, net loss was $9.3 million, or a net loss of $0.15 per share.
The Company exited the quarter with a total cash balance of $17.8 million.
For the fiscal year 2016, total revenue was $322.6 million. During 2016, Enphase shipped a record 726MW (AC) or 3.1 million microinverters. GAAP gross margin for 2016 was 18.0 percent and non-GAAP gross margin was 18.4 percent. GAAP net loss for 2016 totaled $67.5 million, or a net loss of $1.34 per share. Non-GAAP net loss was $52.4 million, or a net loss of $1.04 per share in 2016.
"A more competitive pricing strategy drove our inverter market share gains in the U.S. and globally during the second half of 2016," said Paul Nahi, president and CEO of Enphase Energy. "The launch of our AC Battery storage solution in Australia and New Zealand during the third quarter and in the U.S. and Europe during the fourth quarter of 2016 helped drive multiple customer wins globally. Our product cost reduction efforts remain on track and we look forward to the U.S. launch of our Enphase Home Energy Solution with IQ™, our next-generation integrated solar, storage and energy management offering, during the first quarter of 2017."
"We took several actions in the second half of 2016 to strengthen our cash position and reduce our operating expenses to better align Enphase's resources with our long-term growth strategies," said Bert Garcia, CFO of Enphase Energy. "Our third quarter restructuring initiatives resulted in $20 million of annualized non-GAAP operating expense savings starting in the fourth quarter of 2016. In addition, we took incremental restructuring actions in the first quarter of 2017, which we expect to result in an additional $18 million of annualized non-GAAP operating expense savings starting in the second quarter of 2017."
Business Outlook
"We expect our revenue for the first quarter of 2017 to be within a range of $60 million to $65 million," stated Bert Garcia. "While our first quarter results are typically impacted by normal seasonality, the extraordinarily wet winter in California, where we have a strong presence, has negatively impacted our first quarter guidance. We expect GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin for the first quarter to be within a range of 16 percent to 20 percent. Non-GAAP gross margin excludes approximately $250,000 of stock-based compensation expense. We expect our GAAP operating expense for the first quarter to be within a range of $27.5 million to $29.5 million and non-GAAP operating expense to be within a range of $19 million to $21 million, excluding an estimated $1.5 million of stock-based compensation expense and approximately $7 million of additional restructuring expense."