The solar energy industry has had its struggles over the years, but you wouldn't realize that from the performance of sector veteran Sunnova Energy International's (NYSE: NOVA) stock recently. Week to date as of Friday before market open, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the company's stock was up by nearly 15% in price. A positive and encouraging analysis of the wider solar industry was an important reason why.
More juice needed in this country
On Monday, the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) published its latest monthly analysis of electricity generation in this country. The EIA wrote that electricity plant developers brought 20.2 gigawatts of capacity online in the first six months of this year, a figure that was a robust 21% higher than the same period of 2023.
The EIA expects this trend to snowball, as it forecast another 42.6 gigawatts will be added in the second half of 2024.
Happily for solar industry bulls, this green energy source has played a big role in this and will likely continue to do so. The EIA tracked 12 gigawatts of utility-scale solar coming online between January and June, making it the single largest component of the total. The administration's research counts on another 25 gigawatts of solar being built up in the back six months of the year.
This operator should be able to benefit
Not every solar company is poised to take full advantage of this anticipated growth, but Sunnova certainly seems like it has a fine shot. At the start of August the Texas-based company published second-quarter results showing that revenue grew 32% year over year, and net loss shrank significantly. Perhaps it'll tip into the black on the bottom line if solar volume in this country increases as much as expected.
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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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