JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. JASO posted second-quarter 2015 adjusted earnings of 27 cents per diluted American Depositary Share (ADS), surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 9 cents by an impressive 200% and year-ago earnings by 92.9%.

Investors reacted positively to the earnings beat with the shares reaching an intra-day high of $8.35 to finally close at $7.85 yesterday, up 0.13%. Nearly 2.4 million shares exchanged hands in yesterday’s trading session.

Total Revenue

JA Solar’s revenues in the reported quarter were $436.8 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $386 million by 13.2% and the year-ago figure by 11.8%. The improvement in revenues was driven by strong shipments to key markets, primarily China.

Shipments

Total shipments in the second quarter 2015 were 790.8 Megawatts (“MW”), up 16% year over year. The shipment during the quarter exceeded the guidance range of 680–720 MW.

The year-over-year improvement was attributable to a 60.9% surge in module shipment. However, cell shipment plunged almost 68.9% year over year. Modules and cells comprised 91.0% and 9.0% of total shipments in the reported quarter as against 65.0% and 35.0%, respectively, in the year-ago period. This reflects the company’s strategic shift in focus to solar modules from cells.

The increase in shipments came on the back of strong demand from China and European markets, which constituted 45.3% and 14.8% of the total quarterly shipment. Americas witnessed a considerable drop, comprising a mere 0.6% of total shipments, compared with 11.2% in the year-ago quarter.

Highlights of the Release

Gross profit was $71.7 million, up 20.8% year over year. Gross margin expanded 80 basis points year over year to 16.4%. The improvement in gross margin was primarily due to a higher percentage of revenues from downstream projects and continued cost reduction.

Total operating expenses of $46.5 million were 10.6% of revenues compared with 11.5% of revenues in the year-ago period.

Interest expenses were $9.4 million, up 6.8% year over year.

Financial Condition

At the end of the second quarter, JA Solar had a cash balance of $282 million compared with $347.3 million at 2014 end. Total long-term borrowings were $399.3 million, of which $20.4 million are due within the next one year.

Guidance

JA Solar expects to ship 900–9500 MW of cells and modules in the third quarter of 2015. The company reiterated 2015 shipments in the range of 3.6–4 Gigawatts. JA Solar expects to ship 150 MW of modules to its downstream projects.

Other Peer Releases

First Solar Inc. FSLR reported adjusted second-quarter 2015 earnings of 52 cents, sweeping away the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 7 cents by 643%.

SunPower Corp. SPWR reported second-quarter 2015 adjusted earnings per share of 9 cents, lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 14 cents by 35.7%.

Vivint Solar, Inc. VSLR reported a second-quarter loss of 85 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 66 cents loss.

Zacks Rank

JA Solar presently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>