For the fiscal second quarter, ChargePoint (ticker: CHPT ) reported a loss of 28 cents per share on sales of $108 million, while Wall Street was looking for a loss per share of about 25 cents on $103 million in sales. ChargePoint is still a young company, so investors are likely to focus on the sales force.
Looking ahead, ChargePoint maintained its full-year sales forecast of $450 million to $550 million. The company expects to make sales of about $130 million in the third quarter – the same amount analysts were predicting.
Overall, it looks like a good earnings report. Investors seem to be happy. The stock rose 6% in after-hours trading immediately after the results were released.
(This is a developing story. Check back soon for more details and analysis. A look at what analysts and investors were expecting before the numbers landed is included below.
ChargePoint
had a storm of good news. That raises the bar for the electric vehicle charging company’s quarterly numbers, which come out after the closing bell on Tuesday.
Shares of ChargePoint (ticker: CHPT ) have risen about 15% in the month since Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, both Democrats, announced a surprise deal — the Act to Cut inflation – which promoted part of President Joe Biden’s climate change agenda, including tax credits for the purchase of electric vehicles. In these four weeks, the
S&P 500
is about 2%.
More EVs mean more demand for EV charging.
The new law isn’t the only good news for ChargePoint. California has moved to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035. That’s faster than goals set by the federal government and automakers. Both want about half the cars sold to be fully electric by 2030. California’s 2030 goal is about 68 percent.
All of this good news means investors will expect a positive update from ChargePoint when it reports second-quarter 2023 financials later Tuesday. The company is in fiscal year 2023 because its fiscal year ends in January.
Wall Street expects a loss of 25 cents per share and $103 million in sales. A year ago, the company lost 13 cents a share and had $49 million in sales.
Sales, at this point in ChargePoint’s history, are more important than profits. The company has managed to beat sales every quarter since it went public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
ChargePoint has grown its sales faster than it expected when the company proposed its SPAC merger. In late 2020, when ChargePoint announced its deal with a SPAC, the company expected to generate about $350 million in sales in calendar year 2022. The company expects to generate revenue for calendar year 2022 close to $450 million.
Higher sales revenue, however, did not help the stock. Stocks are still down about 30% over the past year, while the S&P 500 and
Nasdaq Composite
decreased by about 12% and 22%, respectively.
Rising interest rates have dampened investor enthusiasm for high-growth companies that are not yet generating profits.
Options markets suggest ChargePoint stock will move about 7%, up or down, after earnings — a bit higher than the volatility seen after the last two quarterly reports.
ChargePoint management is hosting a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time to discuss the results.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
