Rising Against the Trend! Performance of Multiple PV Inverter Companies Stands Out, with One Achieving Record High Performance in 2024! [Hot Topic]

SMM News on May 15: In the mid-to-late April, many PV industry chain enterprises successively released their performance reports for the full year of 2024 and Q1 2025. Among them, three PV inverter enterprises, including Sungrow, Deye Technology, and Sineng Electric, all achieved remarkable performance. SMM has compiled the performance of these three PV inverter enterprises, as detailed below:

Sungrow's Net Profit Surpasses 10 Billion Yuan for the First Time, Achieving a Strong Start in Q1

According to Sungrow's annual report data, in 2024, Sungrow achieved a total revenue of 77.857 billion yuan, up 7.76% YoY. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm reached 11.036 billion yuan, up 16.92% YoY.It is worth mentioning that although the growth rate of its annual performance slowed down, from the perspective of net profit, achieving a net profit surpassing 10 billion yuan for the first time is truly remarkable in the current PV industry chain, which is in a downturn cycle. During an investor activity survey, Sungrow also mentioned that amidst slowing industry growth, intensified competition, and widespread losses, it was not easy for the company to still achieve growth in revenue and profit. This was mainly due to the continuous prominence of the company's core competitiveness, the continuous expansion of its brand influence, its consistent focus on the main track, its adherence to in-depth development, the implementation of a full-coverage strategy for core businesses, and the full play of its advantages in the global marketing and service network, leading to continuous improvements in brand power, marketing power, product power, and service power.

In terms of business segments, Sungrow's profits mainly come from three major businesses: PV inverters, ESS, and new energy investment and development. Specifically, in terms of PV inverters, the company's PV inverter business achieved stable growth in 2024, with shipments of 147GW in 2024, up 13% YoY, maintaining a leading position in the industry. In terms of ESS, the company's ESS shipments in 2024 reached 28GWh, up 167% YoY, with a slight improvement in profitability. This was mainly due to the strong global market demand and the company's deep cultivation of the ESS market, which has formed a good reputation and brand image. In terms of new energy investment and development, although revenue slightly decreased in 2024, profitability maintained positive growth. This was mainly due to the company's further strengthening of its refined management capabilities throughout the entire project development process, its adherence to low-cost, high-quality, and systematic development in domestic projects, its focus on producing based on sales in household PV, its continuous optimization of refined channel management, and the shortening of grid connection cycles.

In terms of gross profit margins, the ESS business ranked first among Sungrow's three major businesses with a gross profit margin of 36.69%. The gross profit margin for power electronic conversion equipment such as PV inverters was 30.9%, and the gross profit margin for new energy investment and development was 19.4%.

In Q1 2025, amid a complex and ever-changing external environment, Sungrow continued to achieve a strong start to the year. The company's revenue in Q1 was 19 billion yuan, up 50% YoY, and its net profit attributable to shareholders of publicly listed firms was 3.83 billion yuan, up 82% YoY.

Sungrow stated that, in terms of revenue structure, inverters maintained healthy growth YoY, energy storage systems (ESS) achieved rapid growth, and revenue from new energy investment and development business declined, primarily due to an increase in the proportion of low-margin residential PV business revenue.

Previously, the US's reciprocal tariff continued to impact the market. Some investors inquired about the company's shipment pace and price changes. Sungrow indicated that PV inverters were being shipped normally. For the ESS business in the US market, shipments had recently been suspended, but the market remained intact, merely postponed; in other markets, the shipment pace was generally in line with expectations. Overall prices remained stable with a slight decline.

Regarding the shipment target for the ESS market in 2025, Sungrow stated that the company's global ESS shipment target for 2025, set at the beginning of the year, was 40-50 GWh. Given the current uncertainties surrounding US tariffs, it is difficult to predict the volume in the US. If the US's high tariff policy persists, it could impact annual shipments by 4-5 GWh compared to the initial target under extreme circumstances, but the overall impact on shipments would be limited.

When discussing its outlook for the future development of the industry, Sungrow stated that it believes the main drivers of industry development remain unchanged. Firstly, the goal of carbon neutrality remains unchanged. Under this goal, clean energy is expected to continue its steady and sustainable development in the long term. Secondly, in terms of development space, the global share of primary energy consumption from wind and solar power is still low, with renewable energy accounting for only about 14% of global primary energy consumption, of which PV and wind power account for about 5%, indicating significant room for future growth. Thirdly, with the future large-scale development of new energy and technological progress, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) will continue to decline, and economic viability will continue to improve, making new energy a cost-effective power source that is expected to maintain rapid growth in the future.

Driven by rapid growth in overseas PV ESS business, Sineng Electric's 2024 net profit increased by over 46% YoY

Sineng Electric, which also operates in the PV inverter industry, delivered notable net profit performance in both 2024 and Q1 2025. According to its annual report data, in 2024, Sineng Electric achieved operating revenue of approximately 4.773 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.23% YoY, primarily due to the company's reduction in domestic ESS integration business; the corresponding net profit attributable to shareholders of publicly listed firms was approximately 419 million yuan, up 46.49% YoY, mainly driven by the rapid growth of the company's overseas PV ESS business.

According to the "2023 Global PV Inverter Shipment Ranking" released by S&P Global, the company ranked fourth globally in PV inverter shipments in 2023, maintaining its position among the top ten in the industry for many years.

In Q1 2025, the company achieved revenue of 831 million yuan, up 16.8% YoY; net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm was 87.65 million yuan, up 71.6% YoY.

Deye Co., Ltd. Achieves Record High Performance in 2024, with Inverter Business Showing Sustained Significant Growth in Recent Years

Deye Co., Ltd.'s performance for the full year of 2024 and Q1 2025 was also remarkable. Against the backdrop of most companies in the PV industry struggling with performance, Deye Co., Ltd. achieved a record high in 2024, with total revenue of 11.206 billion yuan, up 49.82% YoY; net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm was 2.96 billion yuan, up 65.29% YoY.

In terms of Q1 2025 performance, the company continued its positive trend, achieving operating revenue of 2.566 billion yuan, up 36.24% YoY; net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm was 706 million yuan, up 62.98% YoY.

Deye Co., Ltd. stated that over the past three years, the company's inverter business has shown sustained significant growth, while ESS inverters have driven a substantial increase in ESS battery pack business. The company's multi-market layout overseas has shown clear results, and cost reduction and efficiency improvement have maintained high profit margins, leading to overall improvement in major accounting data and financial indicators.

Public information shows that PV inverters are core components of PV systems, and their growth is mainly driven by global new PV installation demand and replacement demand for inverters in existing PV power plants. The growth in global new PV installations will drive rapid growth in the PV inverter market demand.

When asked about the company's outlook for the PV industry, Sungrow stated that long-term demand for PV will continue to grow, but the compound annual growth rate from 2024 to 2030 is expected to be over 10%. This is due to the large base and the impact of US tariffs and China's Document No. 136, which may delay the market. The company expects that due to the large base, domestic PV growth this year will face significant pressure, but the following years should be more optimistic. National leaders have recently reaffirmed their commitment to the "dual carbon" goals and their firm confidence in green development. The European PV market remains relatively stable, while the US market may face growth pressure this year. PV markets in other regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and South America are still growing. Overall, this year may be relatively challenging, but after this year, adjustments and corrections are expected, and the long-term outlook remains confident.