Sunrun Reports Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results

326,000 Customers, an increase of 20% year-over-year
109 Megawatts Deployed, a 40% sequential increase
Net Earning Assets of $1.7 billion, an increase of 15% year-over-year
Closed the acquisition of Vivint Solar in the Fourth Quarter, on October 8, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sunrun (Nasdaq: RUN), the nation’s leading provider of residential solar, storage and energy services, today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020. 

“We are at the early stages of significant innovation in electrifying our buildings and transportation,” said Lynn Jurich, Sunrun’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder. “Sunrun aims to be the consumer brand synonymous with powering your home with renewable energy. We’ve taken significant steps to support this vision. We completed the acquisition of Vivint Solar to create a combined customer base of over 500,000 and today announced the launch of Brightbox in all of our markets. In the third quarter we grew battery installations more than 45% versus last year and we continue to lead the development of virtual power plants, including an additional contract with Southern California Edison, to improve the efficiency and resiliency of our antiquated energy system.” 

“The Sunrun team delivered another strong quarter, increasing volumes 40% sequentially and 2% year-over year, rebounding net customer margins, and continuing to build a strong balance sheet,” said Tom vonReichbauer, Sunrun’s Chief Financial Officer. “We expect to see continued growth into the fourth quarter at improving net customer margins, and expect to accelerate growth in 2021 with an improved cost structure and higher net customer margins.” 

Growth & Market Leadership

• On October 8, 2020, Sunrun announced that it had completed its acquisition of Vivint Solar, following approval by regulators and stockholders of both companies. The transaction solidified Sunrun’s position as the leader in home solar and energy services across the United States and a top owner of solar assets globally with more than three gigawatts of solar energy and more than 500,000 customers. Sunrun estimates cost synergies of $90 million on an annual basis, to be realized 12 to 18 months following the acquisition.
• Today, Sunrun announced that it is bringing its rechargeable solar battery system, Brightbox, to all of the company’s active markets, including eight additional states (New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, South Carolina and New Mexico) and Washington, D.C. Record storms, heat waves, and wildfires this year have uncovered vulnerabilities with the electric grid’s aging infrastructure, leaving millions of people without power. Usually lasting for several hours, recent power outages have come while millions of Americans have transitioned to working and schooling from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sunrun’s Brightbox offers homeowners the ability to power through such power outages with clean, reliable and immediate home energy. From May to September 2020, existing Brightbox customers powered essential needs during grid outages for a total of 7,583 hours, the equivalent of 315 days. Sunrun currently has deployed more than 13,000 Brightbox systems nationwide, and this announcement will expand access to millions of new potential customers.
• On July 30, 2020 Sunrun announced exclusive partnerships with three Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) in California, which collectively provide power for approximately one million homes in the Bay Area, for co-marketing and building virtual power plants. The partnerships are with East Bay Community Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, and Peninsula Clean Energy. The CCAs sought options to help increase the use of clean, affordable energy by leveraging these virtual power plants while also providing backup power to more of their customers following forced blackouts by PG&E that affected hundreds of thousands of customers in the Bay Area.

Innovation & Differentiation 

• Sunrun has recently executed an additional contract with Southern California Edison (SCE) to provide five megawatts of new energy capacity by 2023. During the 10-year fixed-price contract, Sunrun will dispatch energy from thousands of its Brightbox solar-powered battery systems installed in the SCE territory, lowering the overall cost of power and reducing critical strain on the energy system. The same solar-powered home batteries will also provide reliable backup power to these households if the power goes out. Additional details will be announced shortly.
• Sunrun, SK E&S and other affiliated companies, a top global energy and technology company, announced on July 29, 2020 they have co-invested in a new venture with plans to electrify the home. The initial investments from Sunrun and SK E&S and other affiliated companies will go toward forming a new company that will conduct research and development activities to accelerate the adoption of renewables, the electrification of homes, and the transition to a connected and distributed energy system. 

Embracing Sustainability & Investing in Communities

• On September 23, 2020, Sunrun announced that it had partnered with CHANEL to install approximately 30 megawatts of solar energy systems on affordable multifamily properties throughout California. The luxury brand committed $35 million towards solar energy products and the partnership will expand access to solar for nearly 30,000 low-income residents across California. CHANEL's investment will also support more than 20,000 hours of job training in the first year, offering valuable vocational skills and certifications to hundreds of people in disadvantaged communities.
• On August 20, 2020, Sunrun announced a partnership with GRID Alternatives that will provide 100% free battery systems to low-income customers in wildfire-prone regions. 
• In Q3 Sunrun also provided 1,400 hours of paid job training opportunities for people to gain hands-on experience with solar installation projects through GRID Alternatives. 
• In Q3, Sunrun began to offer a product for low-income families in Illinois. With $0 upfront, and $0 over the 20-year lease agreement, participating households receive 100% of the net metering credits, resulting in immediate, timely savings while helping Illinois meet its renewable energy goals.
• In September, Sunrun announced a partnership with The Honnold Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 2012 by prominent rock climber Alex Honnold, to launch a new grant fund that will offer non-restricted grants to community-based nonprofits led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the most polluted places in America to install solar energy systems. Sunrun will be donating solar equipment and making a $50,000 monetary contribution to the fund.
• To ensure alignment with our mission, we created a formal committee of senior management earlier this year to oversee Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters at the company, while also establishing board level oversight of ESG performance by our Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee.

Key Operating Metrics & Outlook

Note that the following key operating metrics and GAAP results do not reflect Vivint Solar as the acquisition closed on October 8, 2020, subsequent to the end of the third quarter. 

In the third quarter of 2020, Megawatts Deployed (MW) were 109 MW, compared to 78 MW in the second quarter of 2020, a 40% sequential increase, and 107 MW in the third quarter of 2019, a 2% year-over-year increase.

NPV created in the third quarter of 2020 was $81 million. Unlevered NPV in the third quarter of 2020 was $0.86 per watt, representing approximately $6,500 per leased customer. 

Gross Earning Assets as of September 30, 2020 were $4.0 billion, up $621 million, or 18%, from the prior year. Net Earning Assets as of September 30, 2020 were $1.7 billion, up $220 million, or 15%, from the prior year. 

Cash, including restricted cash, increased $8.1 million from the prior year. Cash Generation was $22 million in the third quarter of 2020. Sunrun defines Cash Generation as the increase in total cash, including restricted cash, less any increases in recourse debt, and adjusted for certain items. In the third quarter of 2020, Cash Generation was adjusted by ($6.7) million related to the company’s Investment Tax Credit safe harbor program, $1.3 million for restructuring related activities, ($6.9) million for costs related to the Vivint Solar acquisition and SK joint venture transaction and ($5.0) million for the deferral of social security payroll taxes. 

Management expects to grow Megawatts Deployed by over 10% sequentially in the fourth quarter, pro-forma for the acquisition of Vivint Solar, at improving net customer margin levels. We expect net customer margins to increase to above $8,000 per leased customer in the fourth quarter. 

Third Quarter 2020 GAAP Results

Total revenue was $209.8 million in the third quarter of 2020, down $5.8 million, or 3%, from the third quarter of 2019. Customer agreements and incentives revenue was $114.5 million, an increase of $18.2 million, or 19%, compared to the third quarter of 2019. Solar energy systems and product sales revenue was $95.3 million, a decrease of $24.0 million, or 20%, compared to the third quarter of 2019.

Total cost of revenue was $153.0 million, a decrease of 4% year-over-year. Total operating expenses were $272.0 million, a decrease of 1% year-over-year.

Net income attributable to common stockholders was $37.4 million, or $0.28 per share, in the third quarter of 2020.

Financing Activities

As of November 5, 2020, closed transactions and executed term sheets provide us expected tax equity and project debt capacity to fund over 275 MW of leased projects beyond what was deployed through the end of the third quarter of 2020. Sunrun and Vivint together have closed $2.4 billion in project capital in 2020 year-to-date.

Conference Call Information

Sunrun is hosting a conference call for analysts and investors to discuss its third quarter 2020 results and business outlook at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today, November 5, 2020. A live audio webcast of the conference call along with supplemental financial information will be accessible via the “Investor Relations” section of Sunrun’s website at https://investors.sunrun.com. The conference call can also be accessed live over the phone by dialing 877-407-5989 (toll-free) or 201-689-8434 (international). An audio replay will be available following the call on the Sunrun Investor Relations website for approximately one month.

About Sunrun

Sunrun Inc. (Nasdaq: RUN) is the nation’s leading home solar, battery storage, and energy services company. Founded in 2007, Sunrun pioneered home solar service plans to make local clean energy more accessible to everyone for little to no upfront cost. Sunrun’s innovative home battery solution, Brightbox, brings families affordable, resilient, and reliable energy. The company can also manage and share stored solar energy from the batteries to provide benefits to households, utilities, and the electric grid while reducing our reliance on polluting energy sources. For more information, please visit www.sunrun.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our market leadership, competitive advantages, business plan, investments, market adoption rates, our future financial and operating performance, the impact of the COVID-19 on Sunrun and its business and operations, the expected benefits of the acquisition of Vivint Solar, the expected benefits of our partnership with Southern California Edison, our leadership position in the industry, our expectations as to the opportunities for the proposed joint venture to electrify the home, the expected benefits of the joint venture, the expected benefits of our exclusive partnerships with the CCAs, our customer value proposition with new virtual power plant contracts, increased battery adoption, our transitioning to a digital sales model, reductions to our workforce and labor-related costs, our operational and financial results such as growth, value creation, Cash Generation, Megawatts Deployed, Unlevered NPV, total cash balance, our investment tax credit safe harbor strategy, estimates of Gross and Net Earning Assets, Project Value, estimated Creation Costs, gross orders, demand, customer acquisition costs, NPV and the assumptions related to the calculation of the foregoing metrics, as well as our expectations regarding our growth, financing activities, and financing capacity, and factors outside of our control such as public health emergencies and natural disasters. These statements are not guarantees of future performance; they reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and estimates and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from expectations or results projected or implied by forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the availability of additional financing on acceptable terms; changes in the retail prices of traditional utility generated electricity; the impact of COVID-19 on Sunrun and its business and operations; worldwide economic conditions, including slow or negative growth rates in global and domestic economies and weakened consumer confidence and spending; changes in policies and regulations including net metering and interconnection limits or caps; the availability of rebates, tax credits and other incentives; the availability of solar panels and other raw materials; our limited operating history; our ability to attract and retain our relationships with third parties, including our solar partners; our ability to meet the covenants in our investment funds and debt facilities; our continued ability to manage costs associated with solar service offerings, our business plan and our ability to effectively manage our growth and labor constraints, and such other risks identified in the reports that we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, from time to time. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Consolidated Balance Sheets
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Consolidated Statements of Operations
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Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
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Key Operating Metrics and Financial Metrics

Definitions

Creation Cost includes (i) certain installation and general and administrative costs after subtracting the gross margin on solar energy systems and product sales divided by watts deployed during the measurement period and (ii) certain sales and marketing expenses under new Customer Agreements, net of cancellations during the period divided by the related watts deployed.

Customers refers to all parties (i) who have executed Customer Agreements or cash sales agreements with us and (ii) for whom we have internal confirmation that the applicable solar energy system has reached notice to proceed or “NTP”, net of cancellations. Customer Agreements refers to, collectively, solar power purchase agreements and solar leases.

Gross Earning Assets represent the remaining net cash flows (discounted at 6%) we expect to receive during the initial term of our Customer Agreements (typically 20 or 25 years) for systems that have been deployed as of the measurement date, plus a discounted estimate of the value of the Customer Agreement renewal term or solar energy system purchase at the end of the initial term. Gross Earning Assets deducts estimated cash distributions to investors in consolidated joint ventures and estimated operating, maintenance and administrative expenses for systems deployed as of the measurement date. In calculating Gross Earning Assets, we deduct estimated cash distributions to our project equity financing providers. In calculating Gross Earning Assets, we do not deduct customer payments we are obligated to pass through to investors in pass-through financing obligations as these amounts are reflected on our balance sheet as long-term and short-term pass-through financing obligations, similar to the way that debt obligations are presented. In determining our finance strategy, we use pass-through financing obligations and long-term debt in an equivalent fashion as the schedule of payments of distributions to pass-through financing investors is more similar to the payment of interest to lenders than the internal rates of return (IRRs) paid to investors in other tax equity structures. We calculate the Gross Earning Assets value of the purchase or renewal amount at the expiration of the initial contract term assuming either a system purchase or a five year renewal (for our 25-year Customer Agreements) or a 10-year renewal (for our 20-year Customer Agreements), in each case forecasting only a 30-year customer relationship (although the customer may renew for additional years, or purchase the system), at a contract rate equal to 90% of the customer’s contractual rate in effect at the end of the initial contract term. After the initial contract term, our Customer Agreements typically automatically renew on an annual basis and the rate is initially set at up to a 10% discount to then-prevailing power prices. Gross Earning Assets Under Energy Contract represents the remaining net cash flows during the initial term of our Customer Agreements (less substantially all value from SRECs prior to July 1, 2015), for systems deployed as of the measurement date.

Gross Earning Assets Under Energy Contract represents the remaining net cash flows during the initial term of our Customer Agreements (less substantially all value from SRECs prior to July 1, 2015), for systems deployed as of the measurement date.

Gross Earning Assets Value of Purchase or Renewal is the forecasted net present value we would receive upon or following the expiration of the initial Customer Agreement term (either in the form of cash payments during any applicable renewal period or a system purchase at the end of the initial term), for systems deployed as of the measurement date.

Megawatts Deployed represents the aggregate megawatt production capacity of our solar energy systems, whether sold directly to customers or subject to executed Customer Agreements (i) for which we have confirmation that the systems are installed on the roof, subject to final inspection, (ii) in the case of certain system installations by our partners, for which we have accrued at least 80% of the expected project cost, or (iii) for multi-family and any other systems that have reached NTP, measured on the percentage of the project that has been completed based on expected project cost.

Net Earning Assets represents Gross Earning Assets less both project level debt and pass-through financing obligations, as of the same measurement date. Because estimated cash distributions to our project equity financing partners are deducted from Gross Earning Assets, a proportional share of the corresponding project level debt is deducted from Net Earning Assets.

NPV equals Unlevered NPV multiplied by leased megawatts deployed in period.

NTP or Notice to Proceed refers to our internal confirmation that a solar energy system has met our installation requirements for size, equipment and design.

Project Value represents the value of upfront and future payments by customers, the benefits received from utility and state incentives, as well as the present value of net proceeds derived through investment funds. Specifically, Project Value is calculated as the sum of the following items (all measured on a per-watt basis with respect to megawatts deployed under Customer Agreements during the period): (i) estimated Gross Earning Assets, (ii) utility or upfront state incentives, (iii) upfront payments from customers for deposits and partial or full prepayments of amounts otherwise due under Customer Agreements and which are not already included in Gross Earning Assets and (iv) finance proceeds from tax equity investors, excluding cash true-up payments or the value of asset contributions in lieu of cash true-up payments made to investors. Project Value includes contracted SRECs for all periods after July 1, 2015.

Unlevered NPV equals the difference between Project Value and estimated Creation Cost on a per watt basis.

Investor & Analyst Contact:

Patrick Jobin
Senior Vice President, Finance & IR
investors@sunrun.com
(415) 373-5206

Media Contact:

Wyatt Semanek
Public Relations Manager
press@sunrun.com
480-751-9286

Released November 5, 2020