LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK), a vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) and solar wafers, is scheduled to report its first quarter FY 2011 earnings on May 9, after the close of the market. The company also engages in project development activities in selected segments of the PV market. In the last four quarters, the company's reported EPS exceeded Wall Street consensus estimates by margins in the range of 18.50 percent to 500 percent.
For Q4 FY 2010:
- The company reported net sales of $920.9 million, up 202 percent, compared with $304.6 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.
- Gross profit for the quarter was $251.4 million, compared with $150.0 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2010, and $30.2 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.
- Gross margin for the quarter was 27.3 percent, compared with 9.9 percent in the comparable quarter last year.
- Net income was $145.2 million, or $1.09 per diluted adjusted share, compared with net income of $93.4 million, or $0.72 per diluted adjusted share for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 and a net loss of $24.3 million, or negative $0.22 per diluted adjusted share for the fourth quarter of 2009.
- LDK Solar ended the quarter with $202.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and $503.7 million in short-term pledged bank deposits.
For FY 2010,
For full year 2010, the company reported net sales of $2.5 billion, up 127 percent, compared with net sales of $1.10 billion the year earlier. Net income for the year was $296 million, or $2.27 per diluted share, compared with net loss of $233 million, or $2.18 per diluted share reported in FY 2009. Gross profit for the full year 2010 was $557 million, compared to gross loss of $113 million in FY 2009.
In a press release on April 26, 2011, the company updated its outlook for the first quarter 2011 and reiterated its guidance for the full year 2011. For the first quarter of 2011, LDK Solar expects to report revenue in the range of $745 to $755 million, wafer shipments of 625 to 635 megawatts (MW), module shipments of 109 MW to 114 MW, in-house polysilicon production of 2,450 MT to 2,470 MT, in-house cell production between 44 MW and 46 MW, and gross margin between 30 percent and 31.0 percent. For full year 2011, LDK reiterates its guidance of revenue in the range of $3.5 to $3.7 billion, and gross margins between 24 percent and 29 percent.
Analysts Forecast,
For the first quarter, analysts' EPS estimates range from a low of $0.60 to a high of $1.05 per share, compared with a consensus estimate of $0.85 per share to $0.06 per share in the year ago quarter. For this quarter, analysts' revenue estimates range from a low of $748.30 million to a high of $876 million, compared with a consensus estimate of $783.87 million to $347.55 million in the same quarter a year ago. For the first quarter, the consensus EPS forecast has been increased from $0.82 per share estimated 7 days ago to the current estimate of $0.85 per share.
LDK's last trading price was $10.42, down 0.46 points, or 4.23 percent, on May 4.
