Sunrun Surges as Price Increases Help Drive Surprise Profit

(Bloomberg) -- Sunrun Inc., America’s biggest residential-solar company, surged the most in more than three months after third-quarter earnings beat estimates.

A key reason: price increases. Sunrun “continues to flex its pricing power without hurting demand,” Biju Perincheril, an analyst at Susquehanna International Group, said in a note.

Sunrun’s third-quarter earnings per share were 96 cents, significantly above the 13-cent loss that analysts had projected. It also reported revenue of $631.9 million, above the average analyst estimate of $562.2 million.

Residential solar is among the beneficiaries of President Joe Biden’s landmark climate bill, which promises years-long policy certainty and tax credits. Sunrun forecasts installation growth of about 25% this year even as interest rates have surged.

Sunrun was up as much as 22% on Thursday. Fellow rooftop company Sunnova Energy International Inc. gained as much as 15%.

Rising utility bills in some US markets and consumer desire for resilience in the face of major climatic events are driving consumer interest for rooftop systems.

“We still see really strong customer demand,” said Mary Powell, Sunrun’s chief executive officer, in an interview Wednesday.

(Updates with analyst quote in second paragraph.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.