SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Brian Lee: Hey, everyone. Good morning. Thanks for squeezing me in. Maybe a couple follow-up questions to the prior question around the second lien term loan. So 13% to 15% interest rate based on how you pay it. There’s also, it looks like, about 75 million shares of warrants being granted. Can you give us this — just kind of how do they work, the penny warrants work, and then also it’s just 13% to 15% cost of debt on top of that. That’s kind of 40 plus percent of the shares out that they potentially could receive in share compensation as well. I understand that’s a sweetener in any of these financing packages, but thought process around kind of including that level of equity exposure as well for this deal.

Beth Eby: So we actually look at this as excellent support from our key shareholders and very important for improving our liquidity and getting us to the point where we can be free cash flow positive in the second half. The warrants are our penny warrants for a substantive share of the outstanding. They do come in tranches. If we don’t need to draw that second — that last $50 million of financing, then we — there won’t be as many warrants outstanding. So it gives us the chance to work through the business plan at a little less dilution. But the financing is there if we need it.

Brian Lee: Okay, fair enough. And then, Beth, you mentioned the first lien loan also had a maturity pushout. Can you — I know in the press release you talked about a long-term waiver. What are the terms around the long-term waiver? And also, have any of the key covenants changed? I know liquidity, interest coverage were the key ones before. Have any of the covenants themselves actually changed, or what’s sort of the scope of the longer-term waivers that you’ve received here?

Beth Eby: Yeah, so there was a maturity push out. The only covenants for 2024 are liquidity covenants, which are lower, as we said in the press release. The Q1 liquidity is $20 million, $30 million for Q2, Q3, $50 million for Q4. And then in 2025, we’ll start to ratchet up some of the other covenants that we have had in place in terms of net leverage ratio, interest coverage and asset ratios. So it is a pretty good set of covenants that we can meet for 2024, and then start ratcheting back to a normal situation through 2025.

Brian Lee: Okay, fair enough. The last one for me, I mean, presumably based on that, you don’t need to post positive EBITDA in 2024, you need to still stay compliant given the way the 2024 scope of the covenants are structured. But I guess if — one, is that right. And then two, what’s the thought rationale behind the no EBITDA per customer? I understand customer count, growth visibility, those are kind of impaired given the current environment, the restructuring, the financing packaging having just come together, but in terms of unit economics no longer being relevant, can you kind of walk us through that thought process? Because I always thought that was a key sort of framework around the longer term profit targets for you guys. Thanks.

Beth Eby: So, the first one is our EBITDA ratios and our covenants have always been a trailing 12 EBITDA. So given where we are at the moment, not having EBITDA covenants in 2024 is important and does not mean that we aren’t going to have EBITDA.

Peter Faricy: Also — yes, I’d add one other quick point here, which is, you’re right, Brian, the unit economics, which was a big topic in our Analyst Day, that still is important. And I think it’s an important part of the story. It’s really about the EBITDA per customer before platform investment. Given that this is a time where platform investment will be a small part of our investment. It really doesn’t make sense to talk about a EBITDA per customer before platform investment kind of a metric. But I think one of the reasons that it was critical for us to make progress on battery attach and storage attach is, if you go to the core economics of the business, we’ve traditionally been a residential solar company that just sold solar panels, period.

And so, part of our investment thesis is the fact that we believed we could drive a bigger customer ring with batteries, someday EV chargers, other programs. But also a critical part of this is making sure that every time someone does their lease or loan, they do the lease or loan with us. So once we have a chance to reassess this year, particularly on the demand side, and incorporate the capital, we’ll come back to you with EBITDA guidance later on in the year. And I think the EBITDA per customer metric will still make sense as we move forward, particularly once we get through this bottoming out of consumer demand, if you will.

Brian Lee: All right. Thanks a lot. I’ll pass it on.

Operator: Thank you. And one moment for our next question. And our next question is going to come from the line of Andrew Percoco with Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Please go ahead.