JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (“JinkoSolar” or the “Company”) (NYSE: JKS), a global leader in the solar PV industry, announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter that ended September 30, 2018.
Total solar module shipments hit record high of 2,953 MW, an increase of 5.7% sequentially and 24.4% year-on-year. Total revenues were RMB6.69 billion (US$974.8 million), an increase of 10.5% from the second quarter of 2018 and an increase of 4.3% from the third quarter of 2017.
The company’s goal of significantly consolidating involvement in the global market step-by-step is making good progress. With its sales guidance unchanged, Jinko Solar is expected to deliver 11-12 GW shipment this year, which enables it to boost its market share up to approximately 15% and much higher in emerging markets. In this way, it is securing the long-term leading role in the overseas market. Different from its peers, JinkoSolar actually has no biggest single market rather, products are balanced and distributed among seven defined regions worldwide.
JinkoSolar solidified its competitive positioning by focusing on value-added products, including Cheetah and Bifacial based on the mono PERC technology. It has ramped up the capacity its flagship Cheetah series, seeking to revitalize the market, since customers have been eager to upgrade, impressed by its power and new features. Investors and developers have also become far more interested in technology and quality because of good project returns. Not to mention the higher margins that are projected by the performance of products used rather than on the comfort of an FIT subsidy. Cheetah has received terrific market response after its first launched in the U.S.
Although there are other companies who have claimed to launch panels up to 400 watt, actually Jinkosolar is the first manufacturer to start the GW scale production and sales of Cheetah up to 400 watt until now. It represents new wafer size and pioneering technologies such as mono PERC and half cut. These features lift the upper power range to the next level. It will ramp up to its full capacity of Cheetah in 2019. It has had a terrific response from the customers because it boosts output and performance significantly without many changes in engineering design. All of that belongs to its comprehensive market initiative. In this way, JinkoSolar is securing the long-term leading role in the global solar PV market.
As for 2019 outlook, strong demand is expected to continue on the back of high adoption of solar, although market conditions are likely to remain challenging amid stiff price competition. However, JinkoSolar has responded through the early introduction of the Cheetah series and competitive mid-level models with new features. Its shipments for next year are expected to rise significantly while earnings will continue to improve as the Company expands sales of new premium models even as competition is seen intensifying.
In addition, Jinkosolar will also leverage its strength in quality to take advantage of the post subsidy situation when developers and investors become have become far more interested in quality when project margins and returns are projected on the performance of the products used rather than the comfort of an FIT subsidy.
Looking into the future, the Company will continue to reinforce product competitiveness based on technology, quality and manufacturing leadership. Furthermore, based on the ever-evolving ecosystem, JinkoSolar aims to offer premium service to its customers and create synergy with other partners. The outlook for Jinkosolar remains strong across next year in all regions, thanks to robust demand and highly visible pipeline of orders for its high quality products as well as new products introduced into the market. JinkoSolar will proactively address demand for differentiated products. Over the mid- and long-term, JinkoSolar expects new opportunities in its business from the ongoing transformation in the industry, led by the fact that grid parity will soon be achieved in more and more countries.
