Shares of solar company Nextracker surged Thursday, after the company reported quarterly results that beat expectations. NXT stock is up nearly 20%, as Nextracker also raised its sales and earnings guidance for future quarters.
In results published late Wednesday, the Fremont, Calif.-based company said it earned an adjusted 96 cents per share on sales of $710 million for its December-ending fiscal third quarter. Analysts expected Nextracker to post earnings of 49 cents on sales of $619 million.
Revenue climbed 38% year over year. Nextracker's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, climbed 168% year over year to $168 million for the quarter.
On the stock market today, NXT stock rose more than 17% to 53.27 in recent action.
NXT Stock: Leading The Solar Stock Category
Nextracker is the world's largest manufacturer of solar trackers, the racks that enable solar panels to pivot and follow the sun. It also sells software that allows the trackers to maximize output from solar arrays.
"As the world transitions to renewable energy and with solar leading new power generation, we are well positioned as the global leader in trackers, and we're just getting started," Chief Executive Dan Shugar said in the company's earnings release.
Nextracker also upped its guidance for its fiscal year, which ends in March. The firm is projecting sales of $2.45 billion, based on the midpoint of its range. That's up from $2.35 billion at the midpoint of its prior range.
Further, Nextracker upped its projected adjusted earnings to $2.65 per share for the fiscal year, based on the midpoint of its range. The firm previously gave a midpoint estimate of $2.05 per share.
Analysts Raise Targets
Several Wall Street analysts raised their target prices for NXT stock following the report. Truist analyst Jordan Levy reiterated a buy rating and upped his price target for NXT from 60 to 70.
"As evidenced by an impressive beat-and-raise quarter, we believe that NXT is executing at a level well beyond what's implied in the current share price," Levy wrote in a client note Thursday.
Levy was among a dozen analysts to raise targets for NXT stock Thursday, according to FactSet.
Nextracker completed an initial public offering in February 2023. With the jump late Wednesday, NXT stock has more than doubled from its IPO price of 24 nearly 12 months ago.
Further, Nextracker stands out in a solar stock category that has struggled from rising interest rates. NXT stock ranks first among the 27 stocks tracked in the MarketSmith Energy-Solar category. That's based on its Composite Rating of 94. The rating reflects strength across a number of technical and fundamental metrics linked to superior stock performance.
