Bloom Energy reported fourth-quarter revenue of $213.6 million and earnings per share of -0.12, beating consensus estimates.
The northern California company that operates a plant at the University of Delaware STAR Campus reported an end of year product and installation backlog is 1,384 systems, about 70 percent higher than all the systems accepted in 2018.
Revenue has nearly doubled since 2017.
The company has been focusing on the potentially vast market in filling in gaps in the electric grid in the U.S. and overseas. In a letter to shareholders, Bloom noted that power blackouts have been increasing.
Investors have also been looking for indications that the company is making progress in generating cash. The company continues to post losses, but has made headway in improving efficiencies.
Shares have been trading at about $10, after rising above $30 after the company launched an initial stock offering.
Q4 Fiscal 2018 Financial Highlights:
| Q4’17 | Q3’18 | Q4’18 | FY’17 | FY’18 | |
| Acceptances (100 kW) | 201 | 206 | 257 | 622 | 809 |
| Revenue ($M) | $123.3 | $190.2 | $213.6 | $376.0 | $742.0 |
| GAAP Gross Margin (%) | 9.8% | 12.3% | 8.1% | (4.8%) | 15.8% |
| Gross Margin Excluding SBC (%) | 11.6% | 20.8% | 18.1% | (2.7%) | 21.4% |
| GAAP Net Loss ($M) | ($67.8) | ($78.6) | ($99.8) | ($262.6) | ($241.8) |
| Adjusted EBITDA ($M) | ($8.0) | $15.1 | $14.0 | ($79.7) | $66.9 |
| GAAP Net Loss per Share ($) | ($6.56) | ($0.97) | ($0.91) | ($25.62) | ($4.54) |
| Adjusted Net Loss per Share ($) | ($0.55) | ($0.13) | ($0.12) | ($2.66) | ($0.63) |
Outlook for first quarter of 2019
| Acceptances (100 kW units) | 215 to 245 (Midpoint would represent 39% year over year growth vs. Q1 2018) |
| Average Sales Price (dollars-per-kilowatt) | $6,750 to $7,050 |
| Total Installed System Cost (dollars-per-kilowatt) | $5,600 to $5,900 |
KR Sridhar, founder and CEO, Bloom Energy said, “We are pleased to have delivered another record top-line quarter, and a record year. The world is clearly placing more and more value on what we provide: clean, Always-On, extremely resilient and cost-effective power. With our product and installation backlog at almost 1,400 systems at year-end, 70 percent more systems than we deployed in the whole of 2018, we are clearly entering 2019 with strong momentum.”
At a later earnings call, Sridhar said, “Based on our product and install backlog, I expect to see revenue growth in the mid-20 percentage points year over year. I also expect our gross margins to be in the mid-20’s in the second half of 2019. Together, these expectations should put us well on our way to our long-term business model of 30 percent revenue growth with 30 percent gross margins.”
For further details, see link to shareholder letter below:
https://investor.bloomenergy.com/files/doc_financials/2018/q4/Bloom-Energy-Q4-Shareholder-Letter.pdf
