JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) reported Q4 EPS of $0.40, $0.23 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.63. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.12 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion.

• Total solar module shipments were 3,618 megawatts (\"MW\"), an increase of 22.5% from 2,953 MW in the third quarter of 2018 and an increase of 45.8% from 2,481 MW in the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Total revenues were RMB7.72 billion (US$1.12 billion), an increase of 15.3% from the third quarter of 2018 and an increase of 21.5% from the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Gross margin was 14.7%, compared with 14.9% in the third quarter of 2018, and 11.6% in the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Income from operations was RMB237.4 million (US$34.5 million), compared with RMB188.0 million in the third quarter of 2018 and RMB91.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Net income attributable to the Company\'s ordinary shareholders was RMB114.8 million (US$16.7 million) in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with RMB189.1 million in the third quarter of 2018 and RMB22.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Diluted earnings per American depositary share (\"ADS\") were RMB2.92 (US$0.44) in the fourth quarter of 2018.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company\'s ordinary shareholders in the fourth quarter of 2018 was RMB111.8 million (US$16.3 million), compared with RMB206.3 million in the third quarter of 2018 and RMB41.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Non-GAAP basic and diluted earnings per ADS were both RMB2.84 (US$0.40) in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with RMB5.28 and RMB5.28 in the third quarter of 2018 and RMB1.28 and RMB1.24 in the fourth quarter of 2017, respectively.

Mr. Kangping Chen, JinkoSolar's Chief Executive Officer commented, "We closed out the year strongly with module shipments hitting another record high of 3,618 MW during the quarter, an increase of 22.5% sequentially and an increase of 45.8% year-over-year. We shipped a total of 11.4 GW of solar modules in 2018, an increase of 16.0% from 2017. Total revenues during the quarter were US$1.12 billion, an increase of 15.3% sequentially and an increase of 21.5% year-over-year. Total revenues for the full year 2018 were US$3.64 billion, a decrease of 5.4% from 2017, primarily due to lower ASPs. Gross margin was 14.0% for the full year 2018, compared with 11.3% for 2017. Excluding the impact of countervailing duties, gross margin expanded during the quarter to 13.8% from 12.8% last quarter. While the Chinese market was impacted by the policies released on May 31st, we were able to continue growing through our diversified global distribution network and further consolidate our leading position in terms of market share. With global demand recovering strongly, we remain confident in the future prospects of our business and expect module shipments to grow by approximately 30% in 2019."

"China's National Energy Administration recently laid out plans for a bidding system and is expected to again begin granting subsidy approvals for utility-scale projects. Most importantly, subsidies will be prepaid by the state grid, which means there will be no more delays in payment for new projects. The new policies set a clear direction for the country's solar plans and will help to greatly improve sentiment for the solar sector as the country tries to smoothly transition towards grid parity and encourage a more market-driven environment. Based on the new policies, we believe domestic installations in 2019 will exceed last year. Distributed generation projects and projects completed at grid parity will continue to make up a larger portion of overall installations."

"US demand continues to strengthen thanks to the introduction of the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) which is expected to generate robust growth during the second half of 2019. Our U.S. manufacturing facility began pilot production in November 2018 and has been steadily ramping up, with full production capacity expected to begin during the second quarter of 2019. With such enormous growth potential, we will continue to expand our presence in the US by leveraging our strong brand recognition, high quality products, and best-in-class customer service. Following the cancellation of the minimum import price policy, demand from solar power purchase agreements and grid-parity projects in the European markets is surging, especially in some of the biggest markets such as Spain, the Netherlands and Germany. Emerging markets are also booming with Jordan, Kuwait, South Africa, and Oman growing rapidly. We are also benefiting from our early entry into Southeast Asian markets such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines where demand remained robust throughout 2018."

"We continue to make progress implementing large-scale crystallization furnaces to increase productivity while working to develop technologies to reduce both oxygen content and light induced degradation. We are also leading the industry in terms of efficiency improvements on our diamond wire cutting, which is continuously reducing our wire consumption. Our large-area N-type monocrystalline silicon solar cell reached record high efficiency of 24.2% in January 2019. We are rapidly increasing our capacity to produce high-efficiency products by increasing both mono wafer capacity and PERC cell capacity and converting our existing non-PERC capacity to PERC capacity to increase output. With our production gradually ramping up into the middle of 2019, our expanded capacity will improve the competitiveness of our products and strengthen our cost advantages. This and other constant technological developments not only enable us to provide our clients with competitive high-efficiency products, but also allow us to sustainably cut costs. We are confident in our ability to further optimize our cost structure going forward and are fully prepared to enter an era of grid parity in the near future."

"Looking out to 2019, we believe Chinese and global demand will grow as solar energy becomes more and more competitive. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead, and are confident in our ability to further expand our market share, distinguish ourselves from our competitors, and continue leading the industry forward."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on JinkoSolar (JKS) click here.