SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEDG) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

But here again, all of the improvements will simply be offset by the bigger amount of batteries. The one thing to add to your question, though, is that we do expect to see continued improvement on the operating profit because while batteries are usually carrying lower gross margins, they also carry much better operating profit because of the fact that they require much less OpEx around them, either selling capabilities or R&D. And therefore, while we actually believe that we will see margin stabilizing maybe a little bit higher than what we guided for in the Analyst Day, there is still some way that we expect us to continue and get towards getting to our 20% to 22% of net operating margins on the overall business as we will see more batteries in the mix.

Operator: And we’ll move next to Philip Shen with Roth Capital Partners.

Philip Shen : Zvi, I think you talked about Europe being up 89% year-over-year in ’22. Our checks with multiple large distributors suggest that their inverter growth in €˜23 is expected to be 50% to 60% year-over-year. I know you just talked about how you can’t quantify the ’23 outlook for Europe. But I was wondering if you could talk through the trends you might be seeing by quarter. Are you seeing any signs of a slowdown? For example, do you expect the back half growth to be a little bit weaker versus the first half? Or maybe just compare the two, do you see strength in the back half perhaps you see that as well. But ultimately, what is it that you see that you might be able to — from a forward-looking standpoint and a leading indicator standpoint that might give you confidence in the back half?

Zvi Lando: Yes, Phil, I think as also indicated by Ronen, to a large extent, our 2023 in Europe will be similar to the condition we were in, in 2022, which is more dependent on our ability to produce the volumes than the demand. I can give you an indicator which is true for the company as a whole, but it’s most pronounced in Europe, that our current backlog for 2023 is well above what we delivered in 2022 globally and in particular, in Europe. So as far as we can see, the market is — the demand is good and the market is strong, and we are ramping production to meet that demand. Our constrained — well, on the single-phase product, I think we’re much closer to the run rate that the market is needing right now in ramping our space solutions, the market is still moving a little bit faster than we are able to ramp production, and that’s where we are focused.

And as I said, I think that, that will be the determining factor on the final growth rate year-over-year from 2022 to 2023, less the question of demand.

Philip Shen : Great. And then shift over to the U.S. Can you — I think in your prepared remarks, you talked about a bit of a cautious outlook that you have for the U.S. market. How much of a slowdown could we have in Q2 and the rest of the year? I know you’re not giving guidance, but qualitatively, can you talk through that? And could your megawatts be flat or down year-over-year in the U.S.? Are we at that states? Or do you think there’s definitely some growth on the table? And then perhaps if you can talk about the share dynamics in the U.S. with Enphase. Is it stable? Or have you seen any recent changes in the acceleration of change?