Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) reported fourth-quarter results that missed analyst expectations, sending its shares down about 13.6% following the release.
The company recorded a loss of $1.66 per share for the quarter, significantly worse than the analyst forecast for a $0.47 per share loss. Revenue totaled $1.22 billion, falling short of the $1.37 billion consensus estimate and declining 20% from $1.52 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
Canadian Solar shipped 4.3 gigawatts of solar modules during the quarter, representing a 47% year-over-year drop. For the full year, the company delivered 7.8 gigawatt-hours of energy storage capacity.
Gross margin narrowed to 10.2%, compared with 14.3% in the prior-year period. The decline was mainly attributed to impairment charges tied to certain project assets and weaker contributions from solar module sales and project asset transactions. The company reported a net loss attributable to Canadian Solar of $86 million, compared with net income of $34 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2026, Canadian Solar expects revenue between $900 million and $1.1 billion, with the midpoint of $1.0 billion coming in below typical seasonal trends. The company forecasts gross margin in a range of 13% to 15% and solar module shipments of between 2.2 GW and 2.4 GW.
For the full year 2026, Canadian Solar projected shipments of 6.5 GW to 7.0 GW of solar modules and 4.5 GWh to 5.5 GWh of battery energy storage solutions to the U.S. market.
“While the first quarter tends to be seasonally softer, we are navigating a complex macro environment, including elevated and volatile input costs across supply chains and policy uncertainty in key markets,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO.
The company ended the quarter with $1.9 billion in cash and total debt of $6.5 billion. Its energy storage contracted backlog reached a record $3.6 billion as of March 13, 2026. Canadian Solar also said it continues to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint, with its Texas module facility now fully ramped up and plans underway to double capacity to 10 GWp by the second half of 2026.